maternity leave – A Glimpse Inside

Mix and Match Snowman from Chicken Babies

Erin from Chicken Babies is the last guest blogger for my maternity leave, which means I’ll be back next week! But Erin is here today with a fun snowman project. Take it away Erin!

Hello! My
name is Erin. I’m a wife, mother of 4, musician, writer, teacher, and all
around crazy lady. I blog over at Chicken Babies. On my blog you will
find simple ideas to help you have fun with your family, teach your children at
home, celebrate the holidays, plan awesomely fun birthday parties, and maybe
some things that will make you laugh. I love sharing ideas and hope you will
hop on over and say “hi!” or follow me on facebook, google, and/or
twitter.

I’m excited to be here as a guest poster on “A Glimpse
Inside” while Allison takes some time off to focus on her sweet new
addition.

“Do you want to build a snowman? C’mon, let’s
go and play! . . . ” That tune has been stuck in my head since we
saw Frozen last month. Am I the only one here who’s kids won’t stop
singing those songs?

Today I’m going to show you a fun
craft/decoration/toy that the kids have been enjoying at our house. It’s
a snowman, of course. Actually, I guess it’s 4 snowmen. Actually, I
guess it’s really 24 snowmen because you can switch them around and mix them
up.

I bought three square blocks at Michael’s, but you
could also just cut your own if you’re crafty like that. These squares are a
bit bigger than 3x3x3in. Sand them (although I actually skipped sanding because I’m
lazy). Paint them white and let them dry. Now find felt, ribbon, buttons,
paint, googly eyes, and other assorted crafty things to make your snowmen!

We made a regular old snowman . . .

. . . a yellow snowman . . .

. . . a sporty snowman . . .

. . . and a Valentine snowgirl, because it’s
getting to be that time of the year.

Honestly, I didn’t take a lot of time thinking about what to make each side look like. I figured since it’s purpose was to be something the kids could play with a lot, I didn’t want to invest too much time and money into it because then I’d just get cranky with them if they were rough with it. I’m sure all you crafty ladies out there can make some super cute snowmen.

The only tip I would have in your snowman construction would be to advise you to use some glue on the ends of the ribbon/lace to keep it from fraying. I also tried using burlap for one scarf with lots of glue to try and freeze it in place. I mean lots and lots and lots of glue. The buttons I stuck on with glue dots.

I couldn’t really think of what to put on the
bottom block to make each one unique, but my daughter thought I should paint
little animal friends, so that’s what we did. Another option would be to
add more buttons.

The kids like switching our snowman around. You
never know what you’re going to find when you come in to the room. What’s
our snowman friend going to look like today?

I hope you enjoyed this kid-friendly craft. I’d love for you to come over to chicken babies for more winter crafts and valentine’s ideas. Stay warm and have a great winter!

That is super cute Erin! I bet kiddos will love changing up their snowmen! Thanks for sharing!

As I stated in the beginning, Erin is my last guest blogger and I will be back next week. Yay!!
I can’t wait to be back to blogging and I have a couple of fun projects just waiting to be debuted.
See you next week!

allison

January 10, 2014 By Allison

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Crock Pot Split Pea Soup Recipe from Krysta Steen

Krysta from KrystaSteen.com has a recipe for you all today.

Hi everyone! I am so honored to be here, guest posting for Allison while she takes a much needed maternity leave! My name is Krysta and I blog over at KrystaSteen.com!

I hope you will hop over and say hi some time!!

Today I wanted to share an amazing crock pot soup recipe, that really knocked our socks off! We had a ham bone left over from Christmas and this Split Pea Soup was easy and SO amazingly delicious!!

Here’s what you will need:

*16 oz. package dried green split peas (rinse and pick out any duds)
*1 ham bone (best if it still has some meat on it!) or 1-2 cups diced ham (if ham bone doesn’t have much meat on it, I would use both)
*3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced
*1 rib celery, sliced
*1 onion, diced
*2 cloves garlic, minced
*1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
*1 bay leaf
*1/4 tsp. sea salt
*dash pepper
*6-7 cups chicken broth/stock

Directions:
Line a large crock pot with a liner, if desired, for easier clean up. Layer ingredients as listed above, ending with the chicken broth. No need to stir. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Remove bay leaf and bone, removing any meat still left on the bone. Add ham back into soup.
Makes about 6-8 servings.

I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks again to Allison for having me on the blog today. Here’s where you can find me, I’d love to “meet” you! 🙂

Thanks for sharing Krysta!

allison

January 8, 2014 By Allison

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Double-Sided Infinity Scarf from Mabey She Made It

Lisa from Mabey She Made It is here today sharing a tutorial for a double-sided infinity scarf.

Hi! I’m Lisa from Mabey She Made It, a DIY craft and sewing blog, and I’m excited to be part of Allison’s guest post line-up!

I’ll admit that I’m not much of a scarf wearer–not that I don’t like them, I just don’t usually take the time to accessorize my outfits since most days I’m at home with a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old. They just don’t care whether I have on jewelry or other accessories. But once I tried on an infinity scarf, my mind kind of changed. They keep my neck warm, they’re cute, and I look like I actually tried that day. Triple win. Especially during winter.

Double-sided Infinity Scarf | Mabey She Made It #infinityscarf

So when I bought a 1/4 yard Mystery Box from Girl Charlee
(affiliate link), I saw all the wonderful pieces of knit and knew that
some of them were the perfect size and color for an infinity scarf. And
while most infinity scarves I’ve seen have been one piece of fabric, I
really wanted to use some coordinating fabrics that were just awesome
together.

Would you like to make one (or ten) for yourself?

Follow along!

Start by cutting two pieces of knit 11″ by the width of your fabric. Mine was 60″ wide, and it’s perfect. If you want just one fabric, you can save a step and just cut your knit 22″ by the width.
Put the pieces together right sides together, and sew both sides together, leaving a couple inches gap on ONE side (for turning later).
Start pinning the two openings together, right sides together and lining up the seams.
Now sew all around the circle so you get a circular tube. At some point, you’ll have to kind of shove all the fabric inside the tube like this:
Turn the scarf right-side-out using the gap on the side seam.
Sew up your gap (either by hand or with a machine), press, and you’re ready to wear it!

Thanks for following along as we made a double-sided infinity scarf!

I’d love it if you came over to Mabey She Made It for more fun ideas!

Thanks for sharing Lisa!

allison

January 7, 2014 By Allison

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Painted Chevron Frame from Life in the Barbie Dream House

Whitney from Life in the Barbie Dream House is here today with an easy painted chevron frame tutorial for you today.

Hey y’all! I’m Whitney, from Life in the Barbie Dream House, a blog my husband and I started while designing and building our dream house from the ground up. The house was completed and we moved in last March (yay!) and ever since then the blog has followed along as we decorate it, furnish it, put up 26 Christmas trees in it (yes – I’m crazy), and really just make it our own. I’ve always been a huge fan of A Glimpse Inside, so it’s an honor to be a small part of it while Allison is spending some quality time with her adorable new baby girl!

Today I’d like to share a quick and inexpensive (under $5!) chevron painted picture frame with a burlap bow that I DIY’d. We needed one more decor piece for the side table in our newly repurposed sun room, and I thought a picture frame would be just what the room needed. What I love about this craft, aside that it’s easy and low cost, is that you can really personalize it to your space by syncing it with your color scheme. The supplies and steps are below, but feel free to get creative with any other patterns or accents you want to add!

The Supplies:

A wood frame from Michaels ($1 – 2, depending on size, mine was $1)

Paint in your choice of color(s) (you’ll need 2 if you plan on doing the chevron pattern)

A piece of paper/card stock and a pencil (if you want to trace the chevron pattern onto the frame)

A medium sized paint brush
Burlap ribbon (less than one yard)(available at Michaels, Walmart and Hobby Lobby)

A flat Christmas ornament (optional)

A hot glue gun with glue stick

The Steps:

1. Paint the frame the color of your choice. If you want to keep the frame all one color, you can skip step

2 and go straight to step 3.

2. Using the paper or card stock, trace the chevron pattern with a pencil. The paper helps to ensure you’re using straight lines. After tracing, paint along the lines carefully with your second paint color to complete the chevron pattern. If you’re anything like me, you won’t be able to trace the lines perfectly, but the pattern will still be discernible!

3. After letting the paint dry and plugging in your trusty glue gun to let it heat up, make a bow out of the burlap. I also used a small scrap of burlap ribbon to tie around the center of the bow to make it extra secure.

4. Glue the back, center portion of the bow to the frame in the top center, top left, bottom center, or anywhere else you think looks cute! I chose the top center of the frame because my bow was so big. Press it down firmly for a couple seconds to ensure it stays in place. You might also spot on a little glue within the bow to make sure it doesn’t come undone.

5. If you also have a flat ornament you would like to add (now is a great time to get them for 50-75% off) hot glue that wherever you think is appropriate. I got this one in a two pack from Garden Ridge for $1 (50% off)! I love using the fleur de lis and glitter is always welcome in our house.

6. Don’t forget to insert a special photo to make it your own, and voila! You not now have a chevron and burlap picture frame that you can tell everyone you made yourself – and on the cheap!

Thanks for reading and thanks again to Allison for allowing me to share my chevron frame craft!

Stop by Life in the Barbie Dream House for our home tour, a peak at our crazy Christmas obsession and all of the fun DIY projects hubby and I work on together! 🙂

Thanks for sharing Whitney!

allison

January 7, 2014 By Allison

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Double Choco-Cookies from Busy Mom’s Helper

Dani from Busy Mom’s Helper is here with a cookie recipe for you all today. Take it away Dani.

Hey Ya’all! I’m Dani from over at Busy Mom’s Helper, and I’m uber excited to be here! CONGRATS to Allison for her new little bundle. Mommy hood is one of the best (and craziest) things in the world!

Today I’m going to be sharing a FABULOUS recipe, definitely one for all those chocolate-lovers out there (ya, I’d live on chocolate if I could)

Double Choco-Cookies

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 cup Butter, softened

3 cups Light Brown Sugar

1 cup Baking Cocoa Powder

4 Eggs

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

4 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 cup Chocolate Chips

Optional: Caramel, Marshmallows, Hot Fudge Sauce, Peanut Butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Spray or line two baking trays, then set aside.

Use a fork to ‘smoosh’ the Butter, Brown Sugar and Eggs together.

Mix in the Cocoa, Salt and Baking Powder.

Mix in the Flour, then once that’s incorporated stir in the chocolate chips.

If you’re adding an ‘Optional’, stir that in now. We’ve tried all four, and they all turned out fabulous!

Form the dough into 1″ balls, then press them slightly down on the baking trays.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Thanks so much everyone, and hope to see (well, you know what I mean) you again!!!

Thanks for sharing Dani!! Those look delicious!

allison

December 30, 2013 By Allison

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DIY Gallery Wall from Quirky Cool Blog

Kimberly from Quirky Cool Blog is here with an easy DIY Gallery Wall tutorial for you today.

Hey everyone I’m Kimberly Noelle from Quirky Cool Blog! I’m so excited to be here helping out Allison while she spends time with her new baby!

Today I’d like to share with you a quick, affordable and may I say beautiful Diy gallery wall I came up with for my main wall in my living room. It would even be a great gift for those decorating enthusiasts and nature lovers!

I love books, I especially love old books with vintage prints. I had recently picked up a variety of bird and butterfly vintage print books at a local flea market. I was hoping to find some vintage botanical books with prints but I wasn’t lucky enough. However, I’m still on the hunt! I love birds, I love flowers, and I love anything to do with nature when it comes to paintings, and pictures, and art, so I figured what a great way and affordable way to display a beautiful book of art on a wall. This is something you could do with any type of vintage book full of pictures and prints. I’ve seen some pretty cool old children’s books that would be fantastic to cut and frame for a child’s bedroom.

The vintage bird and insect books I picked up at our local flea market. I scored all 4 for less than 20 dollars.

I picked up some white frames with white matting from Michaels. They were on sale for 6 dollars. I knew I wanted to do a gallery wall so I picked up 4 one week and then decided I needed to add to the wall and picked up 4 more the following week. I simply marked my favorite pictures, cut them with a razor and framed them. It was that easy! You can even get the smaller frames for smaller prints. Such a great way to display art from a book (if you don’t mind cutting pages out).

I even scored these two task lamps for 15 bucks at Ross! I have been wanting a few for so long but couldn’t bring myself to spend the money on them. They can be pricey!

A big Thank You to Allison for allowing me to share my project on her blog. Please stop by anytime over at Quirky Cool Blog for Diy’s, crafts, and upcycles.

Peace In Love Always,

It looks fabulous Kimberly! Thanks for sharing!

allison

December 27, 2013 By Allison

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Year in Review Photo Albums from Thrifty Crafty Girl

Welcome Prscilla from Thrifty Crafty Girl!

Hi “A Glimpse Inside” readers!

I’m Priscilla from Thrifty Crafty Girl and I’m guest posting today! I hope you come visit me soon!

WE ARE SO CLOSE TO CHRISTMAS.

I hope you are all finishing up your holiday preparations and getting ready for that jolly ol’ chubby elf to slide down your chimney! A word of advice: Don’t leave a fire in the fireplace that night… a charred Santa is no bueno.

I don’t know about any of you out there, but I have trouble figuring out presents for the grandmas… they are hard to shop for! And my mother-in-law made matters even worse this year by requesting, “Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men”. That’s a tall order, even for my vast capabilities.

I decided early this year that a photo album of the kids would be a good idea. Through the year, we take lots of photos, so I thought I would make that their present: a grandkids year-in-review, if you will. And if you do it right, it can cost only a few dollars!

I found some little photo albums at Walmart for $3.00 each.

Next, I took a whole bunch of pictures throughout the year. Now here’s where you can save some money: Instead of developing pictures a bit at a time and paying full price for them, save them to a special folder on your computer and wait for a sale. Walgreens has deals every few weeks for free pictures, usually 25 or so for completely free if you pick them up in store. Wait for those deals and develop your pictures during those times. If you time it just right, you can pay nothing for those pictures… awesomesauce.

That’s what I did and then I had all sorts of cutie pictures to include in the albums.

I should mention that these are just regular ol’ pictures… our year-in-review is not always photogenic, but that’s real life around here.

I added the kids Santa picture at the end…

And then I added a vinyl label to the front.

Really simple, totally inexpensive, and the grandmas are going to love it. I added a sweet little bow to complete the package:

And after all, don’t most grandparents have everything they want already? They appreciate the memories and this is perfect for that!

Thanks so much for sharing this great idea Priscilla!

allison

December 23, 2013 By Allison

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Monogram Nursery Art from See Vanessa Craft

Welcome Vanessa from See Vanessa Craft. She is sharing a cute nursery art project today.

Hello A Glimpse Inside readers!
I’m Vanessa from SeeVanessaCraft.com and I’m so happy to be here to show you how to make monogram nursery art.
This baby shower gift idea is super easy and very cute. If you know what the nursery theme will be, you can coordinate the scrapbook paper and felt colors accordingly. The parents to be can hang this frame on the wall or place it on a bookshelf or photo ledge.

Materials:

Frame

Felt

Scrapbook Paper

Embroidery Thread & Needle

Scissors

Paper Cutter (or scissors)

Letter Stencil (or print out your own)

Marker

Directions

Step 1: Cut the piece of scrapbook paper to fit inside of the frame.

Step 2: You can make your own letter stencil by typing out your favorite block letter font onto a word document, and then print the letter out on card stock and cut it out. Using the marker, trace the letter stencil to the backside of the felt. Cut out the felt letter.

Step 3: Stitch around the letter with embroidery thread.

Step 4: Place the letter on top of the scrapbook paper and place inside of the frame. You can secure the letter to the scrapbook paper using glue or tape if needed.

Step 5: Trace the letter on leftover scrapbook paper and attach to white card stock to make a matching card. You can tie the card to the frame using a piece of ribbon or yarn.

Vanessa Rodriguez Coppola is a freelance writer and blogger from Arizona, where she resides with her husband and 2 kids. You can read more about Vanessa’s addiction to glitter and hot glue guns on her blog www.SeeVanessaCraft.com. Her first children’s craft book is set to hit the shelves in Spring of 2014! For more festive inspiration, check out her Reindeer Cake Pops and Marshmallow Snowman Pops.

Super cute Vanessa! Thanks for sharing!

allison

December 20, 2013 By Allison

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Last Minute Teacher Gift Idea from Cherished Bliss

Ashley from Cherished Bliss is here today!

Hello everyone! I’m Ashley (the DIYer) from Cherished Bliss, and I’m so excited to be here helping Allison out today while she’s spending some time with that precious baby!!

If I had to describe myself in just a few words, “last minute” would probably have to be two of them! I always feel like I’m running one step behind, forgetting things left and right. It’s normal when you are mom right? I sure hope so… lol. But for now, I just try to embrace my fast paced life and do things that I can complete as quickly as possible without going to the store!

So today I’m sharing with you a great Teacher’s Christmas Gift Idea that requires just a few things you probably already have on hand!

Supplies:

– Mason Jar

– Scrapbook Paper

– Tea Bags

– Baker’s Twine (optional)

– Washi Tape (optional)

Tutorial:

1.The first thing you will need to do is just measure the height of your mason jar before it starts to curve, and cut a strip of paper to that width. Then just roll it up and stick it inside the jar. You can cut off the excess if you want, I just left mine there.

2. Then I just filled it with some tea bags that I already had in the cabinet. I am a major tea junkie so I keep lots of flavors stocked!

3. Then I just embellished the jar a little bit by putting some washi tape around the mason jar lid, tying some baker’s twine around the jar.

All these things are totally up to you! You could even add a cute little printable on there if you want, but I was trying to keep this super easy so you could make it cute, fun, and totally doable in just a few minutes!

I also taped on a cute piece of scrapbook paper I punched out on top of the lid, just because I happened to have a hole punch and some tape right there! Don’t you just love when that happens??

Now you are done! A fun little gift to help remind your teacher how much she helps TEAch our kids!

I usually throw in a starbucks gift card too, because teachers deserve coffee… lots and lots of coffee! I know if I taught Kindergarten I would have to add Starbucks to my budget! : )

I hope you enjoyed this little Last Minute Gift Teacher Gift!

I’d love to have you stop by and say hi!

You can view more of my Christmas Tutorials HERE.

and if you are looking for some decor ideas… this year I shared my Rustic Glam Christmas Tree

White and Gold Rustic Glam Christmas Tree

and my Rustic Mantel Decor

A Rustic Christmas Mantel featuring real cedar garland and drop cloth stockings

Hope you have a beautiful day!

My sister and I would love to meet you so feel free to stop on on by and say Hi!

Are you new here? Let’s get to know each other!

Ashley: Facebook // Twitter // Pinterest // Google +

Audra: Facebook // Twitter // Pinterest // Google +

Thanks for sharing Ashley!

allison

December 17, 2013 By Allison

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Free Holiday Thank You Cards from She’s Kinda Crafty

Stacy from She’s Kinda Crafty is here today with a great free printable for you all!

Happy Holidays everyone!!

I am so excited to be here guesting blogging while Allison gets to enjoy snuggles and coos and first smiles with her new baby girl!

I am sharing a fun holiday printable that you can use for yourself or gift to a friend!

Call me old fashion but I just love giving and receiving handwritten thank you notes. Getting positive snail mail really excites me and I hope it still excites you, too!

You can download the free printable Thank You Cards, print them out on white cardstock (they print 4 to a page), and then use them for yourself or pair them with envelopes, stamps, or a pretty pen and gift them to someone special.

Thank you so much for having me Allison!

I hope each and everyone of you has a wonderful Christmas & a Happy New Year – and don’t forget to let people know how thankful you are to have them in your life!!

Thanks so much for sharing Stacy! These are great!

allison

December 16, 2013 By Allison

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