Shoe Organizer Advent Calendar

Yes, today is the last day of November and I just now finished our advent calendar. Any other procrastinators out there or is it just me? :) If you waited until the last minute like I did, the idea behind this advent is super easy - just roll out one of those 24-pocket over the door shoe organizers, fill it up with something fun, and you're good to go!

The To-Do List Revisited

Do you like making lists? I make one every single morning so that I remember all of the things that absolutely have to get done that day. I also love the feeling of accomplishment when I get to cross something off of the list. :) About six months ago I shared some photos of our new house in the form of a massive home improvement to-do list and I thought it was time to do a little revisit and check out the progress that we have made.

These home improvement projects are the most annoying because they take up a lot of time but the finished project is never interesting enough to share with anyone! This post will still probably bore most of you but this is MONTHS of work that I have condensed into one single post that you have to suffer through scroll past read.

  

1. Hang Blinds - DONE! Those trash bag and duct tape curtains were pretty spectacular but it is nice to have real blinds now.

Polaroid Frame Ornament

Alright, Thanksgiving is over which means that it is officially acceptable to share Christmas projects, right? :) 

I love the retro look of Polaroids (remember my Polaroid Pendant?) so I thought that it would be fun to make a Polaroid ornament! I decided to make it a frame so that I could slip in a different picture each year. If you wanted to make this project even easier though, you could just crop a photo to a square, print it out, and cut it out with a thicker border on the bottom. If you like the frame idea though, scroll down for the details...

No-Sew Ruffled Christmas Tree Skirt

Okay, I know we haven't even celebrated Thanksgiving yet but Jer decided to break out the Christmas movies over the weekend and it put me in the mood to decorate. :) 

Pom Pom Flowers

Our living room was in need of a little pop of color so I made some cute little pom pom flowers! Much better than real flowers because they won't die and I don't have to worry about it getting knocked over and dumping water everywhere. With a rambunctious little boy and a large dog around, you have to consider these things! They were really easy to put together and didn't take long at all which brings up my new series:  Quick Crafting.

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Oatmeal raisin cookies are one of my husband's favorites but I have to admit that in our eight years together this is the first time that I have ever made him any. I never really liked them because I prefer super soft cookies and it seemed like they were always kind of crunchy. So I decided that it was time to look for a new recipe. I did a search for *chewy* oatmeal cookies and saw one that caught my eye. It was from The Girl Who Ate Everything and I have tried a few of her recipes before that they were all amazing! This recipe is no different. They are large, chewy, bakery-quality cookies. I think I have eaten more of them that my husband has!

5 Minute No-Slip Dish Towel

I saw Cute As A Fox's idea for this no-fall dishtowel over on Curbly a few months ago and thought that it was a brilliant idea! Every fracking time I open the oven, my dish towel falls on the floor. Not cool. 

I changed the tutorial up a bit to make this project even easier and give it cleaner lines because those ruffles/pleats/whatchamacallits just aren't my thing. This modification made this a super quick and easy 5-minute-project! Seriously, it took me five times longer to edit the photos and write this post than it did to make the dish towel itself.

Warm Broccoli Cheese Dip

This broccoli cheese dip is surprisingly full of flavor thanks to some Italian seasoning. Even people who hate eating their veggies will love this one! Great for any occasion - you can throw it together  for a quiet movie night at home or take it to a holiday party. 

No-Sew Tooth Fairy Bag

We have BIG news!

This little guy lost his first tooth! It is adorable how exciting this is for a kid. :) 

Instead of putting the tooth under his pillow, we decided to make a special tooth fairy bag to hang on his door knob. Our new carpet is much thicker than what was here originally and we haven't cut down the doors yet so they are a bit tough to open. Although Jer can usually sleep through anything we were worried that this would be the one time that he woke up and it would ruin everything. Since our dog sleeps with him, we just told him that she might scare off the tooth fairy so it would be better to use the bag. He agreed and said that it was also a good idea because his head might be too heavy for her to lift up. Lol!