I love watching Ted Talks on YouTube. I feel renewed in a different way with every one I watch. Recently I stumbled across a Ted Talk about talking big instead of using small talk with those around us. Essentially she spoke on how we could get to know anyone better if we ask more meaningful questions. I am terrible at small talk. I always get awkward and run out of things to say, like I have a certain script to follow, and once the script has been rehearsed I'm out of ideas.
For the new year I want to take the time to get to know myself better, and it turn, allowing you to get to know me better as well. I'm really good at putting up walls and barriers. I shut myself out to avoid getting hurt. In January, the walls com down. That could be a good or bad thing. Hopefully I don't get too up close and personal, but I won't apologize for any of it. Welcome 2017!
I have the hardest time with resolutions. I have no trouble deciding what I want to work on, but when it comes to actually sticking to them I s.t.r.u.g.g.l.e. This year I decided to keep it simple. My resolution for 2017 is to have more fun. I feel like I always get caught up in the day to day, and get weighed down by my to-do lists. For my sake, and my family's sake, I vow to find fun moments during the sometimes seemingly mundane.
On another note, I wanted to share one of my secrets for adding a little personality to home design. I love printables. You can switch them out easily, and it is a great way to show a little witty or clever personality without being too loud. I keep my printables stacked in the frame and rotate through them as the year and holidays progress.
I just finished a new set of printables, and I love how simplistic they are. I have them available for download hereif you'd like them. Here's a sneak peak of what they look like. I absolutely love them. They fully incorporate my quirkiness.
The holidays are so fun with a kiddo. I love that Elle is old enough to get excited about stuff. She loves "San-sa", Christmas lights, and snowmen. Earlier this month it snowed pretty good, and it wasn't bitter cold outside, so Elle and I built a snowman. The snow was perfect for building snowmen - wet and sticky. It didn't stay cold for long, but our snowman held on pretty well.
Elle loved that snowman. Every time we ran errands Elle would say, "Bye no-man" as we drove away. Our Frosty just kept leaning further and further. He never tipped over though. One day it rained, and the rain dissolved him. Elle was pretty sad that day. We were at church, and on the walk home she saw her melted buddy, "Aw, no-man...". It was a pretty sad day.
The gingerbread house was a much bigger hit than the gingerbread cookies. Elle loved eating the frosting and candy. Eventually she caught on to the whole decorating part, and stuck on a few "cannies" of her own.
That's a pretty good looking gingerbread house if I do say so myself. I was lazy and bought a kit at Target. It worked out great. It was nice not to have to make the frosting and buy a bunch of candy.
After asking around, I heard that Riverwoods and Trolley Square have the best Santas, and that you can take your own pictures. We decided to make it a night and go to Trolley Square and hit up Temple Square after to see the lights. Elle wasn't so sure about Santa even though I tried to prep her the best I could. We even FaceTimed Santa a few time earlier that day, but it didn't work. Even with the candy cane offering she wanted nothing to do with him. Maybe next year, Santa.
Temple Square was a hit. That picture isn't the best quality, but it shows the joy that was on Elle's face the entire time. She loved the lights. It was definitely worth the 1.5 hour drive up to Salt Lake (twice as long as it should have taken).
It really is a sight to see. This was my second time seeing the lights, and it is breathtaking every time. We were really lucky with weather, too. The temperature was in the 50's, and since it was threatening rain it wasn't incredibly busy either.
It ended up being a pretty late night, but we had a lot of fun together as a family. We are home-bodies, and don't get out much. Every time we have a night like this, though, I wish we would fight our laziness and get out more.
I know this sweet and innocent-looking girl may make it seem like we never have to deal with the typical toddler problems. For some reason I never think to pull out the camera while she's throwing herself on the floor in a limp pile while screaming at the top of her lungs. I wonder why that never crosses my mind? To be real, I feel as though we got lucky in the toddler department. She really is pretty good. That doesn't mean we don't have our moments though. Last night at Costco, for example, we were eating in the food court, and the peace didn't last long. I had cut up half of Elle's super large slice of pizza to cut down on the mess. She ate most of it, but as soon as she saw the ice cream Mister bought it all went downhill. I told her she needed to eat three more bites and she could have some ice cream. Seems pretty simple, right? Wrong. Meltdown city. I'm pretty sure all of Costco was staring at us. It is so hard to discipline a screaming, limp child in public. First off, reasoning with a toddler is an art in itself, but if they have already lost it - good luck. We ended up heading straight to the car. We do have some really great moments with Elle though, and that's really what I wanted to talk about.
Elle is very particular. She remembers which basket each of the toys go in without me saying a word to her. To be honest, I don't care which basket the toys go in as long as they get cleaned up. For a few days we were missing the top to a block train we had. Mister found it under the TV stand and set it on the ledge of the stand. It stayed up there for a day or two simply because neither of us really cared enough to put it away. I saw it the other day, and put it back in the box with the other train blocks. This morning, Elle was playing with the train. When she was done she cleaned up the blocks, but she made sure to put the top of the train on the TV stand because that's where it had been the last few days. It's funny to see what she observes.
Elle is working hard on learning the English language. She does pretty good considering that she's only been alive for two years. Here's some of my favorite Elle-isms to date:
Za-pee = Pizza
I carry you = Will you carry me?
Huh on = Take it off
Stin-y = Stinky or poopy
Pood Ke-ee = The kitty needs more food
Naow - Milk
No-man = Snowman
Luh you = I love you
Na-nite = Goodnight
Shash can = Trashcan
Serius = Cereal
Nummy = This tastes delicious
*Grunt or growl* = I do not like it
Me = Mickey
Beh = I'm tired, or I want to go to bed
Dunny = Bunny (her lovey)
Show = Turn on the TV stat
I love how quickly she is learning. It has been so great to have the ability to communicate with her more. Today's recipe would get a big grunt from Elle, but it is a favorite of Mister's and mine.
Bow Tie Chicken Caesar Salad
Ingredients
1 bag of Caesar salad mix (I absolutely love the Marketplace brand from Walmart)
This mix should include lettuce, Parmesan cheese, croutons, and dressing.
1 cup of chicken (cooked and shredded or diced)
1 1/2 cups bow tie noodles (prepared)
1/3 cup bacon (crumbled - I just use bacon bits)
Instructions
Mix everything together and enjoy! We have used this as a meal, but it is also a great side or served at a party as an appetizer.
This post has been a long time coming. I've been meaning to blog about Elle's birthday for, well, a couple months. I can't believe our little girl is now two. We have a two-year-old. I may be biased, but she is the sweetest little toddler you'll ever meet. For her birthday Mister and I made her a play kitchen. We were so excited to give it to her, and she didn't disappoint. We've been wanting to give Elle a kitchen for awhile, but we didn't want to pay for one. Even the cheap ones are pretty spendy. I came across the idea of making one out of an old entertainment center and I got really excited about it. We were having a hard time finding the perfect entertainment center as the shell, then one day someone in our neighborhood was giving away theirs for free. It was perfect!
Mister fixed the doors and shelves, sanded it, filled in any dents or holes with wood filler, and painted it. One of the doors had a glass window in it. I didn't like the idea of glass in the playroom. Mister was going to make a new door, then I had an idea to put tin where the glass was. It worked out perfectly! I loved that she could have magnets on her kitchen door. We cut the door into two pieces so she could have a fridge and a freezer.
We found the handles at Ikea, and I spray painted them gold. We also found the faucet at Ikea in their Last Chance section. I also spray painted it gold. The sink was a metal bowl we got at a thrift store, and was also spray painted gold. Mister cut a hole for the sink, and and glued it in using Liquid Nails, and installed the faucet.
The stove was made out of wooden plaques and circles I found at Hobby Lobby. I painted the wooden plaques black, and cut out the white burners from white vinyl. The knobs were made out of wooden circles. We cut 2 circles in half and used that as the top part of the handle. Once again, I spray painted them gold. Mister glued the stove on with wood glue. The handles were put in with screws. Mister drilled holes just a little bigger than the screws, so the knobs would turn. We moved the hinges of one of the cabinet doors to the bottom, so the door would open down like an oven.
Cost Breakdown
Entertainment Center: $0 (you could probably find one for $10-$20 at a thrift store)
Handles: $14 ($6.99 for a 2-pack)
Tin for Fridge Door: $0 (we already had some tin, but here is something similar)
Faucet: $17
Sink: $0.50 Wooden Plaques for Stove: $2.99 Wooden Circles for Knobs: $2.99
I love Christmastime. I love the magical decorations, the incredibly cheesy movies, and delectable treats. I always joke with Mister on Halloween night about how Christmas commercials will start the next day. I secretly love it. Mister hates it because Thanksgiving gets looked over. As much as I love Christmas, I always have a hard time focusing on the true meaning of the holiday. You know, the birth of the Savior of the world. It really seems ridiculous that one of the most important moments of history can be overtaken by a jolly old elf.
I was really excited when the LDS church came out with a 25 days of Christmas. Each day is an attribute of the Savior, and ideas of how you can try to emulate it. Most ideas are very simple, others are more time intensive if you so choose. It has been a great way for me to keep the focus of the season on the Savior, as it should be. If you would like to join me on my 25 day journey, download the calendar here. Also, below I'm going to link my favorite nativity movie. May the spirit of God be with you this holiday season.
We love birthdays at our house. We can't wait for the opportunity to try another ice cream cake concoction. This one turned out perfect. We decided it is one of our favorite ice cream cakes of all time. The inspiration was a Take 5 candy bar - chocolate, caramel, peanut butter, and pretzels. Try it and see the magic for yourself.
Take 5 Ice Cream Cake
Ingredients
20 peanut butter sandwich cookies
1/4 cup butter (melted)
10 oz jar of fudge
5.3 oz bag of Rollos
Moose Tracks ice cream
1 cup pretzel sticks (the skinny ones)
1/2 cup caramel (plus some to drizzle on top)
Instructions
In a food processor, pulse the peanut butter sandwich cookies until they are fine crumbs. Stir in the melted butter until the cookie crumbs stick together. Press into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan. Microwave the fudge for 30 seconds or so until it is runny. Spread a thin layer on top of the cookie crumb crust. Chop up the Rollos to desired size. Sprinkle 2/3 of the Rollos on top of the fudge. Freeze for 1 hour, or until fudge hardens. Allow ice cream to soften for about 10 minutes. On a clean surface, scoop the ice cream, pretzels, and 1/2 cup of the caramel. Using two large spoons, combine the ice cream mixture making sure to break up the pretzels. Scoop ice cream mixture into the spring form pan and top with the rest of the chopped Rollos. Freeze for at least 1 hour before serving. Top with a drizzle of caramel syrup. Enjoy!
This year I want to make Christmas more Christmas-y, so I made a list. It's not exciting, but I think it will do the trick.
1. Visit Santa
2. Go to Temple Square and see the lights
3. Make gingerbread men
4. Drive around and look at Christmas lights
5. Make a gingerbread house
Last night we checked off our first item. We made gingerbread men. One family member was definitely more into it than the other two.
Elle was a good sport for a bit, but once she ate all of her frosting she was done. Mister made and ate his in a couple of minutes. I decorated the rest.
I did a few Christmas themed cookies.
The family was represented.
As you can see, I was a major contributor to the cookie frosting. Oh well, to each their own. I was a little nervous making gingerbread cookies. Most recipes call for molasses. I've never cooked with molasses. I finally stumbled across a recipe for gingerbread cookies at Cake Whiz that uses a boxed cake mix. It was perfect! It only made a dozen of my chubby gingerbread guys, but that worked out great for our small family.
Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients:
1 box of spice cake mix
1 large egg
1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)
Edible decorations
Instructions:
Head over to Cake Whiz for the baking directions. Enjoy!
I love Target. I love the bargain section. I love the home decor. I love the clothing. I love the trail mix selection. I love everything. This holiday season I was browsing their Christmas decorations and I discovered some adorable faux leather feather ornaments. I fell in love, but being the cheapskate that I am I couldn't splurge on them. I decided I would try to make some of my own. Here's a comparison between the ornaments at Target and the ones I made. I think they turned out pretty well.
They were incredibly simple to make, and the material list is pretty minimal.
I spray paint my feathers silver, gold, and rose gold. To spray paint, I laid the feathers on a giant drop cloth and carefully sprayed. They light to fly away, but after a bit you get a feel for the distance and angle that works best.
While the feathers are drying you can prep your leather lace. I cut mine to be about 7-8" long. This just depends on how big of a loop you want and if you want any excess showing. One your lace is cut, take a piece, loop it in half, and stick the ends through your bead.
Once your feathers are dry, stick the quills up the bead. Mine fit very snug. If your don't, you can always shoot some hot glue down the bead hole to hold everything together. That's it! It is such an easy project, and you get some fun and interesting ornaments out of it.
I would love to see pictures of the ornaments you have made. Tag me in your Instagram pictures (@ohellehome). Merry Christmas!
I don't know if your family is like mine, but I feel like we always have somewhere we need to be during the month of December. I also feel like we have a million places we need to take some treats. These cookies are my new holiday favorite. They are so easy and such a crowd pleaser!
Red Velvet Christmas Cookies
1 box red velvet cake mix
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
Cream cheese frosting (I just use the stuff from the store)
Sprinkles (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix together cake mix, oil and eggs until well combined. Scoop out onto a baking sheet. Bake cookies for 10-13 minutes. Allow to cool, then top with frosting and sprinkles.
My husband absolutely loved these! He also came up with the idea of topping the frosting with crushed candy canes instead of sprinkles. You know we'll be trying that next time!
