Iced Christmas Cookies

How is Christmas only ONE week away!? I absolutely love holiday baking.  Well, I really love baking year round but my love is definitely magnified this time of year!  I got this cookie recipe from  one of my awesome coworkers almost 10 years ago and it has never failed me {love you, Kathie!}.  The cookies are so fluffy and soft and the icing adds the perfect amount of sweetness... I had to send most of these cookies with Tall Tan Man to work because I couldn't stop eating them!  

5 Month Old Levi

Levi turned 6 months {how is that even possible?!} on Saturday, so I decided I better get to sharing his 5 month pictures.  I am on top of taking the pictures on time, but getting them uploaded and writing a post is another story... 

Pumpkin & Chocolate Cheerio Treats

Hey y'all!  Can you believe that Thanksgiving is so soon!?  We are hosting and I'm pretty impressed with myself, because I have already done all of my shopping!  👏👏👏  A few weeks ago I was at Trader Joe's and feeling festive.  AKA buying everything in the fall section...  These Pumpkin O's were terrible, like spit them out of your mouth terrible.  So rather than throw them away I decided to make some Cheerio Treats with them.   They turned out great and were SO easy to make!

One Room Challenge {W6}: Fireplace and Finished!

I finished! I finished! I finished! I can hardly believe it but I made it to the finish line with a DONE room! Y’all there were definitely some moments when I didn’t think the room would come together. BUT IT DID!  💃💃💃

One Room Challenge {W5}: The Missing Puzzle Pieces

You know those nightmares when you're trying to get ready and you're moving in slow motion?  Like it’s impossible to get your socks on or make copies for a presentation.  Welcome to Leslie’s week 5 of the One Room Challenge. 🤪 I’m going to blame this on the Halloween craziness and an emotional two year old.  Is this just me or was last week nuts?! 🙋🏼‍♀️ 

One Room Challenge {W4}: New Bedding & Side Tables

It's week 4 of the One Room Challenge and I finally feel like the room is coming together! I just wish I could of taken better pictures...  This room is so hard to take great pictures of because  the lack of natural light.  It was impossible not to have terrible shadows so please forgive me!  If you want to check out my other weeks they are here:

4 Month Old Levi

"Mom, you better get this posted before I'm 5 months old!"
I am soooo behind! 😬  I was good about taking these pictures when Levi turned 4 months {Oct. 1st}, but life happened and I'm just getting around to posting them.  

He is growing like a weed!  I love having these pictures because I've already forgotten how tiny he was.  At Levi's 4 month doctor's visit he had gained about 9 lbs and grown 7 inches.  Maybe thats why he still gets up at night to nurse... 😢😴  Levi is still the happiest baby unless you are trying to give him a bottle.  Which he is still refusing!  He loves playing in his play yard and would rather lick the ground than raise his head during tummy time.
  

Levi took his 3rd trip on a plane to Oklahoma and slept through his first two tailgates.  The OU brainwashing has already begun!!!  #gotoOU #please 

Since his 4 month appointment he has been eating like a champ.  He has not refused any solids but still looks confused when he is eating.  Mack is definitely use to him being around now and is still so sweet to him.  He talks baby talk to him and loves to give him kisses.  Levi loves watching his brother but doesn't love it when he talks 2 inches from his face.  

I'll be back on Thursday for my week 4 update on the basement guest bedroom!  It is a little ridiculous how excited I am about the transformation!  💃 

One Room Challenge {W3}: Craft Closet

Hiii!  I can't believe I am already half way through the Fall One Room Challenge and I only have the closet finished... 😅  Y'all, it feels so good to clean out this room.  Our basement has been a hot mess since we moved in {4+ years ago} and it is about time we get things organized.  

Yep, that's the same room.  Up until 3 weeks ago this closet still had packed boxes from when we thought we were moving this summer.  My craft stuff was all over the house and super disorganized.  I thought this closet would be the perfect spot to put all my craft stuff or "crap" stuff according to Tall Tan Man.  😂  This space includes 3 DIY projects.  Up first is the desk...

I redid the desk for the second time in {2013}, so this is actually its 4th look!  I have had this desk since middle school and I still love its shape.  

I used paint we already had so all this project took was time.  I'm really digging the all white look... now I just have to keep my 2 year old far away from it.  Up next is the gold metal shelves which is my favorite part of the closet!  
the before...

We already had this {ikea shelf}, but it wasn't the look I was going for!  Using {this tutorial from A Beautiful Mess} I painted the shelf and the key is letting the paint cure for as long as possible.  

  I picked up the white boxes from Hobby Lobby for $2.50 each and finally got my craft supplies organized.  Does that make me sound as nerdy as I think it does?!  
The last project I did in the closet was making a cork board.
the before...

  and after!

 This DIY did not turn out as good as I had hoped... At some point I want to replace the roll of cork for a new cork insert.  I've always wanted a cork board to put my favorite ideas from magazines.  I know that is so 2002 and there is Pinterest now, but I will always love magazines!  The roll of cork was difficult to work with.  There are bubbles, discoloration and my pins barely go in to the board.  But it'll do for now! 

  Alright, that's it for week 3!  I am so excited to have a craft space for the holidays because that's when I craft the most!  I'll see y'all again next with hopefully something good.  I might need to go on an 8 mile run to get some good ideas for the rest of the room....

Mack's DIY Book & Toy Cubbies

Hey guys!  This post is making me all sorts of emotional!  Surely, my hormones are back to normal by now?!?! yeahhhh right, I'm crazy for the rest of my life! Seeing Mack have a big boy room just reminds me that babies don't keep.  They are little for a blink of an eye, and you just don't get that time back.  
I recently decided that Mack could use some sort of organizer for his books and a few toys in his room.  I try to keep our toys in one room because I am not one of those parents that say "sorry for the mess my kids are making memories."  Sorry, thats just not me.  I did want some toys in his room for by some miracle he woke up early and thought "I don't want to wake my parents up yet, I'll play in my room" 😂😏

If you have been around here a while you know I love these heavy duty crates from JoAnns.  They are $30 each but I always use a 50% coupon to get them.  For this project I already had one crate...

Here come the tears again!  Mack and I spent many hours in that spot.  Thankfully I posted about that {DIY Nursery Side Table} so I knew how to stain my new crate to match.  

Next, Tall Tan Man and Mack removed the casters, attached the crates with wood glue and screws, and reattached the casters.  

This is the great part of loving DIY... For $15 I got a new cubby and no more toys on the floor.  For at least the next 5 minutes.  

One Room Challenge {W2}: NEW Flooring & Layout

Hi y'all!  Can you believe how different our basement guest bedroom already looks???  It is crazy what new flooring and getting rid of junk will do for a room!
   It also doesn't hurt that I got out my good camera to take some pictures... 😂  The room feels like a completely new room and now I am not embarrassed to have people come see us.  Who is coming first?!?!  The old carpet felt gross and I didn't want to put anything on the floor.  But now...

This is huge people!  😆  I went back and forth on what to do for the flooring in this room.  I debated keeping the carpet and buying a new rug but that seemed like more of a bandaid than a real fix.  Also, a new rug would cost around $400 and we got the carpet for about $600!  It might have been a sketchy carpet store in Denver {and the installer had to take a smoke break every 15 minutes} but it turned out great!  I also debated about getting laminate wood floors with a rug, but then I wouldn't be able to spend any more money on the room.  #nobueno

   This room has come a loooooong way already but there is still so much more to do! I wish I had a better idea of what I wanted to do in the room but I'm just going to have to be patient.  For now I am frequenting Homegoods, Tuesday Morning, and Target to look for inspiration.  

Did I tell y'all I am up to $500 from selling unused stuff from our basement on Marketplace?  Now lets see if I can stay under that to redecorate the room {I already used $200 of it to pay the carpet installer}.  😬😬😬

One Room Challenge {W1}: Redoing Our Guest Bedroom

It is One Room Challenge time again! Y’all, I am SO excited. Over the summer I got the itch {that sounds kind of gross 😆} to redo our basement guest bedroom. The room for the most part has been used for storage but when our sweet Levi arrived we needed it to be a guest bedroom. Here are some beautiful before pictures...

Who needs curtains when you have a rubbermaid lid?!

How cute is that baby leg?!
We did paint the room gray last summer so that is one thing off the to do list.  From the pictures I bet you can see our 3 major problems... lighting, gross carpet, and AN EPISODE OF HOARDERS.  The good news is I’ve already started cleaning out the room. Annnnd since I don't have a money tree in our backyard (aka I can’t just go buy whatever I want from Homegoods for this...), I’ve been selling a ton of stuff on fb marketplace. I’m pretty proud of myself because I’ve made almost $400!  People buy the most random things... Old drawer pulls? Yes. Dated rugs? Yes. Hobby Lobby signs? Yes.  Here is where I’m at now in the room:

This room is going to get a lot less cluttered because we are GETTING NEW CARPET on MONDAY.  I have been looking all over the place for inspiration for this room and I haven’t found ANYTHING.  So of course I’m freaking out that this room is going to look exactly the same at the end of this. 😅 
This is my third One Room Challenge and here are the other two rooms I've done!
Laundry Room Before:
    After: Front Room Before:
Here we gooooo!