Monthly Archives: October 2016

Pumpkin Patch (Round 1)

Posted in Family, Uncategorized by

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Over the weekend we headed up north to find some cooler weather and spend some time with our family at the Mortimer Farm Pumpkin Festival. And while the weather was still warmer than I would have liked (thank you 3rd trimester), it was definitely cooler than it would have been here and we had so much fun!

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We go to Mortimer Farm every year for the pumpkin festival, one- to spend time with family, two-the weather is cooler and three- because they have so many fun things for kids! Brynlee was a little unsure of these tire horses at first, but as soon as they started going around she loved them!

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The corn pit is always a favorite of hers.

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This was a new one for her.

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Brynlee dragged her Daddy up this hill about a million times so she could go down the huge tunnel slide!

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I was really proud of how brave she was to go down it by herself.

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A tractor tire pit proved to be the perfect climbing ground for toddlers.

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And perhaps the days winner, gem mining! This was such a fun activity to do with Brynlee! She loved pulling out all of the colorful, shiny rocks while sifting away the sand and dirt.

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She was so proud of her little bag of rocks when she was done and has played with them continuously since returning home. Future rock collector? I think so!

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The sand birds are always a huge hit, Brynlee loves picking out the different colors to fill hers with. She picked out a pink bird this year to go with her purple bird from last year (her two favorite colors). Her cousin picked a Winnie the Pooh, can you tell they were both so proud of their creations!

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Brynlee’s Outfit

One thing that I really appreciated this year was that Mortimer Farms set up a barn with multiple vignettes sets up for pictures! It was wonderful because it was out of the sun, the set ups were super cute and even though it was fairly busy, there were probably 10-12 vignettes so it was pretty easy to snap a photo. The downside was that this was about the time Brynlee was starting to get tired and hungry…

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We did manage to get one cute family photo of us all smiling and looking at the camera, very rare! So I am happy and Brynlee had a great time and was completely exhausted by the time we left, which meant a great car nap (also very rare) on the 2 hour drive home.

All in all, a great day spent with our loved ones!

We head to another pumpkin patch tomorrow with Brynlee’s school, so our Fall activities aren’t finished yet! We sure are loving this beautiful weather, Fall baking and all things pumpkin! I love this time of year!

xo, Cassidi

Lola Bee Turns 8!

Posted in Family by

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This weekend we celebrated out first baby’s birthday as she turned 8 years old! I still can’t believe that it’s been 8 years since Landon got me this cute little ball of fur for Christmas.

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Brynlee has been looking forward to celebrating Lola’s birthday for months. She picked out that stuffed pumpkin for her, that we wrapped last week, and she has asked every day since if we can give it to her!

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Earlier in the day Brynlee helped me make this cake for Lola and of course, she wanted a cupcake too when Lola got hers. Since they are basically just healthy muffins I was happy to oblige and everyone felt spoiled for Lola’s Birthday!

Happy Birthday Lola Bee! We love you!

Make Your Own Monster Kits {Free Printable}

Posted in Crafting, Holidays by

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Brynlee started preschool this year and while I was hesitant about certain things (like in complete denial that my baby was old enough to even be ready for school), I was super excited about others, like finally being able to make classroom treats for special occasions.

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At Brynlee’s school they are having a little Halloween party next week, they get to wear their costumes and go trick or treating from classroom to classroom. Since I know they will be getting plenty of candy from that, as well as trick or treating on Halloween, I really wanted to make a treat that was non-edible, but still fun for the kiddos! Enter play doh! One of Brynlee’s favorite activities currently and when I found 4 packs of mini play doh’s in the Target dollar bins for only $1, I knew exactly what I was going to do! The craft kit full of pipe cleaners, pom poms and googly eyes is from Walmart and is less than $5, since I made my own printable (available below) and used regular sandwich bags I already had on hand, I was able to make 12 classroom treats for under $10! That’s a win in my book! Plus there is still plenty of stuff left over from the craft kit for Brynlee to use in all her crafting adventures!

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I started by cutting up some of the pipe cleaners into small sections, some for the arms and antennas for the monsters and others, that I also folded at the tip, for the legs. Then I divided the pipe cleaners, googly eyes and pom poms up into 12 separate piles, Brynlee really loved helping me with this part.

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Then she helped me fill the bags with each of the little piles we made and add in a jar of play doh. Once they were filled, we grabbed our bag toppers (printable available below), and she helped me tape them all on.

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I love that this was a project Brynlee and I could do together, now she is so excited to take them into her class to show her teacher and pass them out to all of her friends at the Halloween party.

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Here’s the free printable if you want to make you own! If you do I’d love to see it, tag me on Instagram (blissfullymadeblog) or Facebook with your finished Monster Kits!

Happy Crafting!!!

xo, Cassidi

PS- Today I’m linking up for Inspiration Monday, so head on over for more Fall/Halloween inspiration!

Inspiration Monday Party

Five on Friday

Posted in Favorite Things Friday by

Happy Friday friends, I hope you all have had a good week! We are so looking forward to the weekend and having Daddy home for a couple of days!

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image via

1. We  are heading up north for some cooler weather and a trip to the Mortimer Farm Pumpkin Festival this weekend! We’ll be going to one down here for a field trip with Brynlee’s school too, but we prefer Mortimer Farm to any we’ve been to here in the Valley. For one, we know that family that owns it and two, it is still pretty hot here and spending all day outside in the heat, especially when very pregnant, is not my idea of a good time.

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image via

2. Do you all love Chip and Joanna as much as I do? I’m obsessed with their show Fixer Upper, I can’t wait for the new season to start and watch their reruns all the time! I definitely draw inspiration for Jojo’s amazing style when looking for things for my home. Well, this week The Magnolia Journal released it’s premiere issue! I didn’t go out on day one to get it, I was super exhausted and was kind of having a lazy day, but I went to get it on day two and guess what, I couldn’t find it!!! I went to 4 different stores and called 3 Barnes and Nobles and none of them had it! I was really starting to freak out that I had missed my chance, my IG feed was full of people with theirs and I just couldn’t believe that they had completely sold out on day one! Well, finally, on my last call to Barnes and Noble I got someone who was super helpful and friendly and she told me that they hadn’t received their shipment yet and are expected to this weekend. I don’t know if they just took longer to get to AZ or what, but I’m glad I didn’t miss my chance and am really hoping to snag one today or tomorrow! Have any of you got yours yet? If so, I’m jealous! 😉

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3. Because of my complications when I was pregnant with Brynlee, I will be having another c-section for Baby Boy. We just got it scheduled last week and suddenly, it hit me like a ton of bricks that he will be here before we know it and I really want to have his nursery done before he gets here! I can’t imagine I’ll have the energy to work on it once he is here, I’m still a little curious to see how I’ll do everything I need to, while dealing with the sleepless nights of having a newborn and still needing to take care of my very energetic toddler each day. Any mama advice for me, let me know! So this weekend we started working on some shelving for the nursery, I really wanted some hexagon shelves and so my sweet husband is making all my hexy dreams come true and building them for me!

4. It has been Fall Break here the last two weeks and boy are we missing school… and play dates! Brynlee asks multiple times a day when she will see her teacher and her friends again. I totally failed this break and didn’t have anything scheduled, most of her friends family’s went on vacation which is why we haven’t had any play dates either. I have learned my lesson, next time we will have a list of things to do or plans to go out of town too! In the meantime we are hanging tight and trying to make it through to next week!

5. I shared Brynlee’s Halloween costume plans here and I want to know, what are your costume plans? I think I’m going to be really original and just buy a black witches hat to wear with a black dress or something simple, maybe next year I’ll plan ahead for myself too 😉

Have a happy weekend!

xo, Cassidi

 

 

Marshmallows

Posted in Recipes by

Even though we are staying solid in the 90*’s most days here, our mornings have definitely cooled off and we are loving being able to open windows and doors while drinking some hot cocoa and enjoying the cool breeze, even if it is only for a short time.

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So, when Brynlee asked to make homemade marshmallows the other day, I of course said yes! I mean what better topping for homemade hot chocolate than some homemade marshmallows.

I first made homemade marshmallows last Christmas and was surprised at how easy it was! It is a long process, but with very little work involved, most of it is just waiting for them to set.

I’ve been using this recipe, but am looking for a more all natural marshmallow recipe, if you have any suggestions/ recommendations please leave it in the comments below. These really do taste so much better than store bought marshmallows, I really don’t know that I could go back to store bought now that I’ve had these. And really with just a little pre-planning, making them ahead of time, you really don’t need to buy them.

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In the recipe it suggests using a pizza cutter to cut your marshmallows, that’s what I did last time and it worked wonderfully. Since Brynlee was excited to make the marshmallows and like i said there really isn’t much prep work, I decided that she could cut them out with a heart shaped cookie cutter to make it a little more fun for her.

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Since you will have some left over scraps from all your heart cutouts and you certainly do not want to waste an ounce of this sticky goodness you will head over to Christina’s blog and make her small batch rice crispy treats.

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I didn’t add the pumpkin spice in this batch, but I most definitely will next time.

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Just a little tip, when forming the log, place a piece of parchment paper on top of your treat too. This will keep the sticky mess to a minimum and makes it much easier to form your log.

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This recipe really couldn’t be easier, the hardest part is waiting the 30 minutes for them to set before you can dig in!

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Then enjoy your treat! Perhaps with a yummy marshmallow topped hot cocoa by your side.

xo, Cassidi

What’s in Progress 10.11.16

Posted in Misc. by

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If you follow me on Instagram (and please do), then you saw this pic that I posted recently and know that I am so, so close to finishing my first crochet project ever!!!

Now, that’s not to say I haven’t started many (like this one), but I have yet to finish a single one… The only thing keeping me from finishing this one is a pillow form, I thought I had the right size, but it is just too big. So now I need to make a Joann’s run, then I have one side left to stitch up and I will be done! I’m so excited to have a crochet project completed and can’t wait to share it with you.

In other news, I did just finish a custom nursery set for a family friend and can’t wait to give it to her this weekend so she can welcome her sweet baby girl in style.

Also, I joined a quilt club! My HOA started one and I thought it would be a great way to help me learn the best quilting techniques and I am by far the most novice quilter in the group so it has been an incredible learning experience. We are currently working on Lori Holt’s Row Along from her book Quilty Fun. I just purchased this quilt pattern to make for baby boy’s nursery, so I might switch to working on that one to make sure I finish it in time.

And lastly, Brynlee’s Rainbow Dash costume. Brynlee asks me EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. if I’ve finished her costume yet, so I guess I really need to get that finished!

So, what have you been working on?

xo, Cassidi

DIY 2×4 Cinderella Pumpkins

Posted in Crafting, Home Decor by

If you recall, last year I made these cute orange pumpkins thanks to a tutorial by the sweet ladies at Lolly Jane.

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This year, as I was pulling out all of my Fall/Halloween decorations from the garage, I noticed some extra 2×4’s and 3/4″ wooden dowels left over from the project.

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Instead of adding more orange pumpkins to my little pumpkin patch, I thought that a few white Cinderella pumpkins would fit in perfectly.

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Armed with my sanded 2 x  4’s and 3/4″x 1″ dowels, I drilled shallow 3/4″ holes into the top center of each of the 2 x 4’s.

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Then I grabbed some paint from my stash, Handmade Modern (from Target) in Metallic 20k Gold, Martha Stewart Crafts Multisurface in Mother of Pearl and Apple Barrel Colors in 20575 Sandstone.

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I painted the stems gold and the base of the pumpkin with 2 coats of sandstone and 1 coat of mother of pearl on top.

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Using 80 grit sandpaper, I roughed up the pumpkins to give them a rustic look and attached the stems using E-6000 (my favorite for everything) glue.

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After tying a green ribbon around the stem, off they went to live with the rest of the pumpkins in the patch.

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And of course, since its October, my two Jack-O-Lanterns are showing off their smiling faces!

Happy Crafting!

xo, Cassidi