New Holiday Series: Stuff Your Stockings!

Hi everyone, I just wanted to pop in really quickly and remind you to come follow me at my new blog, Eat. Sleep. MAKE. (www.eatsleepmake.com) if you don't already. Shannon (my sister-in-law) and I are having a ton of fun blogging together and sharing some great projects.

On Monday, we're launching a new holiday series called "Stuff Your Stockings", and we've lined up some great guest posters! Click on this link HERE for more information.

 

Hope to see you all there!

Eat. Sleep. MAKE: Colorblock Tee and a Guest Post

 I've started a new blog at eatsleepmake.com and will no longer be updating this blog (more details here). I will be posting updates here for a short while until everyone has a chance to switch over to follow the new blog, Eat. Sleep. MAKE.

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Colorblocking is all the rage right now! We posted a great tutorial on how to piece together 2 shirts to make an easy colorblocked tee! This tutorial is especially great if you have a couple of t-shirts destined for the trash pile.

Also, in case you missed it, I guest posted on Prudent Baby yesterday and shared my tutorial for the Knotted Suede Bracelets. Click HERE to go visit and leave some love!

 Make sure you check out Eat. Sleep. MAKE. tomorrow for the last part of the series that will cover what stuff to buy at estate sales!

Come follow Eat. Sleep. MAKE via Google Friend Connect, RSS feed or email. You can also stay informed on the latest news at Eat. Sleep. MAKE via Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter.

Eat. Sleep. MAKE: Estate Saling Series

 I've started a new blog at eatsleepmake.com and will no longer be updating this blog (more details here). I will be posting updates here for a short while until everyone has a chance to switch over to follow the new blog, Eat. Sleep. MAKE.

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Have you ever shopped at estate sales before? They're a great place to find some valuable stuff, IF you know what you're doing that is! This week, Shannon is sharing some great tips on how to plan, prepare for, and find the best stuff at estate sales in her 3-part series.

Part 1: The Planning Stage

Part 2: Being Prepared

 Make sure you check out Eat. Sleep. MAKE. tomorrow for the last part of the series that will cover what stuff to buy at estate sales!

Come follow Eat. Sleep. MAKE via Google Friend Connect, RSS feed or email. You can also stay informed on the latest news at Eat. Sleep. MAKE via Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter.

Eat. Sleep. MAKE tutorial: Citrus and Herb Soap

I've started a new blog at eatsleepmake.com and will no longer be updating this blog (more details here). I will be posting updates here for a short while until everyone has a chance to switch over to follow the new blog, Eat. Sleep. MAKE.

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I know, I know, more soap :) I just can't help myself, it's so easy to make! Today's tutorial on the new blog is on how to use fresh citrus peels and herbs to make great summer-y scented soaps - come check it out and make sure to follow me at Eat. Sleep. MAKE. if you haven't already!

Come check out the tutorial and follow Eat. Sleep. MAKE via Google Friend Connect, RSS feed or email. You can also stay informed on the latest news at Eat. Sleep. MAKE via Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter.

Eat. Sleep. MAKE tutorial: Plywood Inspire Boards

For our first project on Eat. Sleep. MAKE, Shannon is sharing her Plywood Inspire Boards!

Come check out the tutorial and follow Eat. Sleep. MAKE via Google Friend Connect or email. You can also stay informed on the latest news at Eat. Sleep. MAKE via Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter.

The new blog is live!!

Time for the big blog reveal!! As I said in my previous post, I have made the decision to stop blogging on My Own Road and team up with my sister-in-law, Shannon, to start a new blog (more details in my post if you have any questions.) Now that the blog design is done, I can finally give you more details!

The new blog is called eat. sleep. MAKE., and it's a collaborative creative effort between Shannon and I to bring you even more great projects and tutorials. We had the awesome privilege to work with Melisa of Pie in the Sky to design our new blog for us, and we are SO thrilled with how it turned out!

Shannon and I have both been in love with coral and gray, as well as the southwestern trend that's been going on for awhile, and Melisa did an amazing job combining both of our styles and tastes to create a gorgeous design that fits both of us perfectly.

On top of having a brand new blog and design, we also have active Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter accounts so you can follow us and stay connected with everything going on with eat. sleep. MAKE. I hope you'll come follow us at eatsleepmake.com because we just might have an amazing giveaway coming up soon for all of our followers full of some really cool stuff we both made. You don't want to miss it!

And check it out, we even have sweet new buttons now:


<a border="0" href="http://www.eatsleepmake.com" target="_blank"><img_proxy src="http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr312/svenanzio/Button1-5.jpg" /></a>

<a border="0" href="http://www.eatsleepmake.com" target="_blank"><img_proxy src="http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr312/svenanzio/Button3-4.jpg" /></a>
If you want  to share the love, please feel free to copy and paste the html code in the box below the image to your blog!

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I won't be posting on My Own Road anymore, but it will stay open so that you can still enjoy my past posts and tutorials. I will be posting updates here for a short while to let you know what we're up to on eat. sleep. MAKE just in case you haven't made the official transition to follow us there yet.

Thank you all SO much for supporting My Own Road for the past 2 1/2 years! I have made a lot of new friends and really grown as a blogger and a person. I hope you'll come follow Shannon and I on eat. sleep. MAKE. and check out all the great new stuff we have for you!

BIG News!!

 I've been hinting around about my big news, and I can finally let the cat out of the bag! You may remember how I've talked about my sister-in-law, Shannon, here on my blog. She's the one who taught me how to sew, and she's also personally responsible for half of my wardrobe (some of the clothes she gave me I posted about here and here). She has amazing fashion sense and mad skills in home decoration, which I am sadly lacking in. On top of all that, I was also lucky enough to have her guest post back in June of 2011 for my Button Down Rehab series when she shared her tutorial for how to make a Pillow Monster.

We've been talking for awhile now about how much fun it'd be to start a blog together, so we did! I can't go into too much detail just yet (or even reveal the name!) because the final touches are being added as we speak, but I'll make sure to give you the full reveal as soon as I can! Until then, I'll reveal our main photo we took for the front page of the new blog. Please disregard my horrible posing. I'm working on it ;)

I'm sure you've noticed that things have been slow lately, but it's because Shannon and I have been working our butts off for the past few months on new and unique content. So while I've been continuing to write here on My Own Road, I've also been working overtime on a ton of new projects and recipes that I can't wait to share with you guys! Thing I'm most excited about is that together, Shannon and I will be able to offer you SO much more content since we'll be blogging together. And it won't be just sewing and kids stuff, our new blog will be focused on sharing everything we love from parties to fashion, home decoration, and DIY's.

Now...

What can you expect on the new blog? is an even better version of what this blog has become. Shannon's fashion sense, home decor tips and design along with my craft background and kid-centered projects means that we're going to be able to offer a lot more diversity and projects to our readers. You can expect to see a lot more DIY projects each week, along with plenty of recipes, kid stuff, crafts, and tips for how to make the most of your wardrobe. 

What does that mean for My Own Road? It was an extremely hard decision to make, but I ultimately decided to stop writing on My Own Road so that I can focus solely on the new blog. I have had SUCH a great time blogging on My Own Road for the past 2 1/2 years and learned so much in the process so this decision feels a bit like giving up a child, but it's time for me to start a new chapter in my life.

The primary reason why I decided to start a new blog with Shannon is because I wanted to have more time to spend with my family instead of feeling the constant pressure to blog and do projects all the time. I love to create, but coupled with 2 kids and a full-time job, it started to become more of a chore than a creative outlet. Around March, I began to really feel burned out and almost gave up this blog altogether. Shannon and I talked about it, and starting a new blog together became the perfect way for me to continue expressing myself creatively while still having plenty of time for my family because ultimately, they are what really matters.


While I'll no longer be posting new content on My Own Road, it will stay open infinitely so that you can still enjoy my past projects and access my tutorials and freebies. For awhile, I'll also be posting some updates and pictures here of what we're sharing over at the new blog in case you haven't yet made the transition yet to follow us there.

I REALLY hope you'll all stick with me when I make the official transition to the new blog. I've loved getting to know each and every one of you, and Shannon and I look forward to being able to offer even bigger and better (and more!) things with you on our new blog.

Lounging around

We're kicking back some and relaxing over here :) I'm taking advantage of my unemployment (which hopefully won't be much longer) and spending as much time as I can with my kids. There have been many trips to the playground, parks, and shopping trips to the mall. I'm loving it. Well, most of it. Seriously, how do all of you stay-at-home moms do it everyday?? I love my kids more than anything, but sometimes when they both throw simultaneous tantrums, I forget their cuteness and want to hand them over to the daycare for a couple hours so I can have some peace and quiet, or at least go to the bathroom by myself.

Connor is such a mama's boy, which I LOVE, but I'm not so much a fan of how he has to follow me absolutely everywhere. A girl just needs to go to the bathroom by herself sometimes, you know? I'm sure we'll laugh about it someday, but he's just so clingy lately. I'm sure a lot of it is related to the fact that he's 18 months, but mama's, please tell me that he won't always scream bloody murder when I walk into the other room? I don't remember my 3-year-old ever being this clingy. I keep telling myself to enjoy it while I can, which I do for the most part, but it's really difficult for others to take care of him when he's having a meltdown.

But then I snap a picture of him like the one above where he's lounging on the couch with his pants unbuttoned, eating chips and watching TV, and all of those tantrums melt away in my mind and I see my sweet little snuggly boy. Who am I kidding? I love that he's a mama's boy.

Oh and my big news that I've been hinting around about will be announced next Monday :) I can't wait to share what I've been up to!

Baked Beer Brats

To me, summer means grilling, grilling, and more grilling! There's nothing we love more about summer than spending some time outside playing with the kids while grilling out. My husband Patrick is truly the Burger Master, and we have many friends who can attest to that fact.

While try to grill as much as we can, but the summer heat can become pretty unbearable at times, and that means stepping foot outdoors is out of the question. On those days when we still want traditional summer food, we turn to my husband's recipe for beer brats that can be made in the oven. He first made these for me when we were dating, and I've been addicted ever since. They get really juicy on the inside from cooking in the beer and seasoning, and they have just the right amount of snap when you bite into them.

If I got to eat these beer brats all the time, I wouldn't even miss the grill. Plus, this recipe just involves throwing ingredients into a pan and putting it into the oven. It doesn't get any easier than that.

Ingredients: 1 bottle of beer (I prefer lagers for this recipe), 2 tablespoons minced garlic, 1 tablespoon italian seasoning, 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions: Combine all ingredients in a glass pan and cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, then flip brats over and cook for another 20 minutes.

Sprinkle with your favorite toppings and enjoy! My toppings of choice are ketchup and red onion :) I'm sure this one will quickly become a summer favorite of yours too!

Check out my sidebar to see where I link up each week!

I'm a scrapbooking failure.

I'm someone who can't get enough of different creative mediums. I've dabbled in a ton of different things: crocheting, painting, drawing, sewing, knitting...the list goes on and on. The problem with that is, I'll go on a kick where I will get engrossed in something, only to get bored with it a few months later. This usually means I end up with a heap of supplies that I no longer use, and half-done projects that need some major improvements.

Case in point: scrapbooking.

I would really love to tell you that I'm a fantastic scrapbooker. I love all the cute little dimensional stickers you can get to embellish your pages, and maybe that's the reason I first got interested in scrapbooking. I mean, it's real-life stuff in tiny form! Maybe that would explain why I like babies so much too?

From all my blog stalking, I've seen so many cute layouts that people put together to catalog important events like graduation, the birth of their children, etc. And, now that I have a Silhouette, I have no excuse right? The only problem is, I suck at scrapbooking. I mean, super hero suck at it.

Need proof? I'm glad you asked.

I have a scrapbook I started in high school. At the time, I thought I made a pretty cool scrapbook. Looking back, I wonder "what the heck was I thinking??" (On the positive side, if you were questioning your scrapbooking abilities, one look at my old scrapbook will make you feel like a pro!)

1. The cover of the scrapbook. What was I thinking with this? Is that a fork with flowers on it?
2. Magazine pages as backgrounds. Apparently a snowman without a nose qualifies as an acceptable winter background. I can hear scrapbookers everywhere screaming in agony. 
3. Sticky labels as an embellishment. The only thing labels should be used for is TO LABEL THINGS. Not as a decoration.
4. Foil, really? This may be the best page in the book. I remember being really proud of this one when I finished it. Now I just wonder why I decided foil would make a good decoration.

I am a disgrace to scrapbookers everywhere. The thing is, it's not like I didn't have materials to work with! I have dimensional stickers, letters, and even scrapbook paper that doesn't come out of a magazine. And I still have them.

Sigh. I have finally accepted the fact that I will never be a good scrapbooker. I guess that's a major step in the right direction. It's probably a good thing that I've accepted that fact because I don't think the craft world is ready for more scrapbooks full of sticky labels and foil.

Spongebob Squarepants dress

A friend of mine (the one I made the Hospital Survival Kit for last year) recently asked me to make a dress for her daughter for her first birthday. She loves Spongebob Squarepants, so of course the party had to be Spongebob-themed and you can't have a Spongebob party without the proper attire. She wanted a girly version of Spongebob's outfit, so I immediately thought of Ashley's tutorial on how to turn a onesie into a bubble dress on Make It and Love It. I liked the idea of using a onesie rather than a regular t-shirt because they're longer and also because I could still incorporate the general idea of Spongebob's outfit but make it girly by adding a gathered bottom and sparkly tie.

I used fabric paint with glitter in it for the tie (not sure if you can see the glitter well in the picture above, but it's there!) and used freezer paper to paint it on the shirt in the shape of a tie.

I also made a simple bow hair clip with some red ribbon that I had.

How cute is she??

Check out my sidebar to see where I link up each week!

Even princesses need ice cream

My MIL found a couple of Disney princess dresses at a garage sale recently, and Haley got her hands on one and immediately insisted on wearing it and spinning around the living room. She loved it so much that she refused to take it off during a trip to get ice cream recently. How often do you get to wear a big, puffy princess dress out in public?

So that's what we did.

I think we found a new favorite ice cream spot. I tried their "Bittersweet Symphony," which is a heavenly mixture of coffee ice cream with bittersweet ribbons of chocolate running through it. We've been back to get ice cream twice now, and I can't bring myself to try anything else.

 

Haley sat down intermittently for bites of ice cream, but she mostly enjoyed curtsying to passerby's who complimented her on her dress. This little princess had very refined manners. Except for the drips of ice cream that inevitably found their way onto her dress. Her lady in waiting (i.e. me) was called several times to make sure the little princess's dress was properly wiped clean.

Good thing Connor was on hand to "help" finish off the rest of the ice cream. I didn't need any help with mine :)

Bowls were emptied and Princess Haley was happy. I sense more trips to get ice cream in our near future, probably in a Rapunzel dress next time.

On a jewelry kick

I'm sure you've noticed that I'm on a jewelry kick lately. I seem to go through these crafting phases where I get really hooked on a particular kind of craft and lately, it's been making jewelry. It's been nice to put my sewing machine aside for a little while and explore a different medium. Plus, I can kick my feet back and watch TV while making jewelry. With sewing, you usually have to stay glued to your machine until you're done with the project. Since I've been settling into my new home in PA, I've been looking for cute projects that are quick and I came across Bev's tutorial for Stacked Ombre Cording Bracelets.

Bev's blog, Flamingo Toes, is always my go-to when it comes to jewelry making. She puts together great knockoff tutorials for Anthro jewelry that you'd usually have to pay an arm and a leg for and her tutorials are always really easy to follow. I happened to be at a hardware store a couple of nights ago, so after reading her tutorial, I picked up some brass tube and modified her tutorial to make a couple of bracelets of my own!

I didn't have any cording, but I did have suede so that's what I used for mine. I also opted to be really lazy and cut the tubing with wire cutters rather than doing it the (way cleaner and better-looking) correct way of using a saw or other tool to cut the tube. Please also don't look too closely at the fact that I went with silver clasps because I didn't have gold :) My motto is "make it work" AKA "I'm too lazy to do it the right way so I'll use what I have." I bought more brass tubes to make more, and I'll definitely be cutting it with a saw next time.

Thanks, Bev, for the great tutorial (and the new addiction to making these awesome bracelets)!

I'm officially a Pittsburgher.

We're here, we're here! After months and months of planning and dreaming (more like years actually) we're finally in Pittsburgh! My husband and I have been wanting to move closer to our family ever since we had kids, and that dream has finally become a reality. I've been taking a little blog break recently to unpack, recharge, and organize everything because wow, we have some STUFF. When everything is nicely organized in your house, you don't really realize how many things you have. That is, until you have to take it all out of your house and pack it into a 26 ft. truck. And your van. And your second car. And still, there's barely enough room for everything. I still feel like I'm recovering from all of the packing, unpacking, and organizing and it's still not completely done yet but we're getting there.

So far though, I am completely in love with Pittsburgh. What a beautiful city! For those of you who know Memphis, it's pretty much a concrete jungle (and a hot one at that!) Pittsburgh has so many beautiful buildings and such a wonderful sense of community. I'm really enjoying how genuinely nice everyone is here! I love that I can finally say that I'm a Pittsburgher.

There's also a few other things I've been loving about PA:

     1. Pittsburgh is like, a million degrees cooler. And less humid. And those 2 things alone are
     enough to make me want to move here.


     2. People walk around at night outside without fear of being mugged. That would never happen in
     Memphis. The sun goes down, you go inside.

     3. They have diet cream soda in their grocery stores. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but
     to me it's like finding the holy grail.

     4. Great local restaurants. Most restaurants in Memphis (aside from the BBQ joints) were  
     chains. Here, you can walk down the street and have the best hoagie you've ever eaten at a local
     hole in the wall restaurant. I plan on gaining lots of weight.

     5. Did I mention how awesome the weather is?

The one thing I'm having to really get used to are the hills. I'm just hoping I'll have some massive calves after being here for a few weeks :) Thanks for hanging in there while my family and I settle in. I've been giving myself permission to slow down a little lately, but I do have some projects that I plan on sharing with you soon! 

Signing off for now

It's time for me to sign off for awhile! We're making the big move this week, but our internet is officially cut off as of yesterday (I had to preschedule this post) so I will be without internet for awhile and won't be able to write on the blog until we move and get settled in. I'm just glad I have my iPhone to get my Pinterest fix on the drive :)  In just a few short days we'll be hauling a giant truck, 2 babies and a whoooooole bunch of stuff 14 hours away to live Pennsylvania. After that, it's nothing but unpacking and settling in with family until we can find new jobs and adjust.

We've been trying to explain the move to Haley over the past few weeks so that she's prepared for the big change. We've been here since she was only 3 months old, so Tennessee has basically been her home for her whole little life. We also have big plans to enroll Haley in preschool when we get there among other things. Patrick and I laugh about it because Pennsylvania has become this magical place where all fun things happen. Haley latches onto bits and pieces of what we've been telling her, then retells it to us at bedtime.

"We pack up allllll of our stuff into a big truck and we go see Yia Yia and Papa! And no more Haley's house. And we see friends, and go to the BIG screen and see Brave, and go to dance school, and go SWIMMING!"

I love how flexible young kids are, they can adjust so easily. Especially with promises of trips to the pool :) So it's goodbye for now, to Tennessee and to my wonderful readers. And hello to a new chapter in our lives!

Week in Pictures

I pretty much failed at taking pictures this week! We planned on being moved out by this time, but unfortunately our move out date continues to be pushed back due to circumstances beyond our control. We just keep telling ourselves that it's going to happen soon, but waiting is so hard to do sometimes. So for now, here's a picture of my son looking like the baby from The Hangover :)

On the plus side of things,the weather has been cooler the past few days, so hopefully that means nice weather when we move out next week! Oh and by cooler, I mean 91 degrees which is great compared to the 104 degree heat we've been having lately. We're just ready to have this whole move and house sale done so we can start a new chapter in our lives.

And speaking of new chapters, I have some exciting blog-related news that I'll tell you about soon :) You may have noticed that I've slowed down some on projects lately, but really I've been working my butt off behind the scenes. How vague, right? I expand on that more later once I've had a chance to actually move one of these days and settle into our new city :) 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Glitter fireworks (kid's activity)

Happy 4th to everyone! We're enjoying a relaxing day at home today (which basically translates to "we're doing a lot of nothing and the kids are bored.") Haley's finally at the age when I can take her to see fireworks and she won't be completely terrified (we'll test that theory out tonight :) so I'm looking forward to that later.

To get her prepared, I've been letting her watch videos of fireworks on YouTube. She loves all the colors, so I thought up a quick activity to do with her today - glitter fireworks! I saw this tutorial on The Mother Huddle for making fireworks out of pipe cleaners and thought it'd be perfect for a quick project. Yep, we're working with glitter, so get out your vacuum because it can get messy :)

You'll need:

• Craft glue
• Glitter
• Paper
• Pipe cleaners

First, Make a firework out of pipe cleaners by twisting them together and fanning out the bottom. Then, squirt some glue onto a paper plate and dab your pipe cleaner firework into it. Use your firework to stamp some glue onto a piece of paper, then let your child sprinkle on glitter to their little heart's desire.

Shake off the excess and repeat to make as many fireworks as you want.

Happy 4th everyone!

Oh this boy.

Each day I see less and less baby in him. He's talking much more at this age than his sister ever did. I think the impending move has caused me to look at both of my kids and really see how much they've grown over the past 3 years we've lived here in Tennessee. We moved here when my daughter was only 3 months old and my son was born here, so this is really the only house they've ever known. We've had lots of great memories in this house.



Of course we're looking forward to moving at the end of the week so we can live close to family again. I would be lying if I told you I'll miss the 14 hour drives. And the heat, oh the Tennessee heat. It's unbearable at times. We'll be living with family until we can get back on our feet, so we're very thankful that they're allowing us to make their home ours, even for a short while.

But this house has been more than a roof over our heads. It's been our home for the past 3 years and I'm sure going to miss it.



I hope the next family that lives here makes even more wonderful memories with their family and that they too will eventually know this house as their home.

Week in Pictures, playing with boxes & a winner!

It's Friday at last! That means closer to moving time for us. Our house is full of boxes and a whole lot of nothing else since it's all been packed away. Our move date has been pushed back due to unforeseen delays, but we're excited to get this show on the road. In the meantime, we're trying to eat all of the food in our house and as you can tell by the bottom left photo, that means dinners that consist of graham crackers, apples, and peanut butter some days. Good thing peanut butter is one of my favorite foods :)

Connor is loving having all of the boxes around though. We literally played with a box for 20 minutes a couple of nights ago. Why do we even buy this kid toys anyway? I've never seen him have so much fun. I just had to share a video with you (first time uploading a video, so hopefully it works):

I love this boy, he's so entertaining.

Another highlight of my week was when I received the beautiful hand painted bag in the collage above from Lucy at Craftberry Bush! She's so talented, I wish I could paint like her. Or paint at all for that matter. It's so pretty I kind of don't want to use it because I'm afraid I'll get it dirty or something :)

Well enough about me, it's time to announce the winner of the Quick Guide Giveaway! After plugging all entries into Random.org, the lucky winner is:

#7, Jessica who said: "I would love to know more about how to get back in shape and be a good wife/life balance once a baby comes."

 Congrats Jessica! I hope you enjoy your Quick Guide! An email has been sent to the winner.

Remember, even if you didn't win, Lianne is selling her book in paperback or PDF form on her website for only $7.95. 

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!