St. Patricks Day "Lucky blocks"

Lucky Blocks

This project was super fun, easy, and a little time consuming... only because my baby was jealous of all the attention these blocks were getting! I've never decorated for St. Patricks Day in the past, but after seeing all these cute ideas in the blogging world, I figured this was a great excuse to make some cute blocks :)

Supplies I used:

4x4 cut up into 4 in. cubes ( The nice man in Home Depot cut them for me :))

Rust-oleum Leafy Green spray paint

Cute scrapbook paper

Modge Podge

Time Holtz Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink

Folk Art- Buttercream acrylic paint

Chip board letters

Paint brush

Sponge brush

Glue gun

Steps:

1. Cut up wood

2. Spray blocks

3. Cut up paper

4. Distress edges with ink

5. Apply Modge Podge to blocks and then apply paper. Smooth out bubbles. After it's dry, apply Modge Podge over the entire block.

6. Paint letters & let dry. Glue letters to block.

That's it! Have a good day! :)

I'm linking up Kimbas DIY day @ A soft Place To Land 

"G" letter meets Jute Twine!

I have to admit, I didn't come up with this idea. I saw it on someones blog but for the life of me I can't remember who's blog it was so I can't give them credit for it...  Sorry! 

I had a "G" letter that I've had for awhile but wasn't too fond of it. So instead of painting it, I figured I would do something different! Therefore....  ugly colored letter meets jute twine... and walla! Simple! Basically I just wrapped the twine around the letter and used a hot glue gun occasionally to make sure it would stay in place. Cute, no?

I'm linking up to the wonderful DIY day at Kimbas A Soft Place To Land

Koston letters and wall plaques

For my sweet baby boys room I made these letters and wood plaques to hold them. It was very SIMPLE! If I can do it, ANYONE can do it :) 

(My mom made the bedding. She did an amazing job!!)

For the wood plaques I used:

• Oval wood plaques (I got mine at Hobby Lobby) 
• Rustoleum Espresso Spray paint
• Rustoleum Heirloom white spray paint
• Hooks (1/2 off at Hobby Lobby!)
• Sanding block/sand paper

1. Spray Paint the edges with the Espresso spray paint. I only did the edges because that's where the distressing would be. Let dry.

2. Spray paint over the espresso with Heirloom white spray paint. Let dry.

3. With sanding block, lightly sand the edges so that the Brown shows through :)

4. Attach cute hooks to plaques... and wallaaa!! Easy peasy.

For the letters I used:

• Cute wood letters from Hobby Lobby
• Fun scrapbook paper
• Modge Podge
• Exacto knife
• Sponge brushes
• Tim Holtz distressed ink pads (love these!)

1. I traced out the letters onto scrapbook paper and then with my exacto knife I cut the letters out. 

2. Apply Modge Podge to the letters 

3. Apply paper. Make sure to smooth out all air bubbles. This is critical! :) Let dry.

4. With distressing ink, lightly dab the edges with either a sponge or, if you're impatient like me, i grabbed toilet paper and just dabbed it with that, haha.

5. Modge podge over all of it and let dry.

6. Attach ribbon to the back. I just glued it with my glue gun.

and... that's it!

I'm linking up to Kimbas DIY day AND "Get your Craft on" with Today's Creative Blog

Key Lime Cheesecake

Key Lime Cheesecake

I've been really craving something "lime-y" lately. Awhile ago, someone at my work brought in a key lime cheesecake and it was divine! Ever since then this cheesecake has been on my mind. Well a few weeks ago we were supposed to go camping with a bunch of friends and my husband and I were in charge of the smores, so i went out and bought a huge box of graham crackers. Unfortunately, we ended up not going so i was left with a huge box of crackers that I didn't think i'd ever eat. But man, i don't know if it has to do with me being prego or what, but I've eaten about 2 or 3 bags of them these past couple days. They're so good! I know, I'm a fatty :) They go way too fast though. Anyway! to my surprise, my mom came home with a bag of limes and i knew it was fate. :)

Key Lime Cheesecake

1 1/2 c. fine graham cracker crumbs

2 tbsp. sugar

1/2 stick (1/4 c.) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 1/4 lbs. (2 1/2 (8 oz.) pkgs.) cream cheese, softened

3/4 c. sugar

1 c. sour cream

3 tbsp. all purpose flour

3 lg. eggs

3/4 c. Key lime juice

1 tsp. vanilla

Crust: In a bowl, stir together the crumbs and the sugar and stir the butter in well. Pat the mixture evenly onto the bottom and 1/2 inch up the side of a buttered 10 inch springform pan and bake the crust in the middle of a preheated 375 degree oven for 8 minutes. Cool completely.

Filling: In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together the cream cheese and the sugar until the mixture is smooth, beat in the sour cream, the flour, the eggs, the lime juice and the vanilla. Mix until smooth.

Pour the filling over the crust. Bake the cheesecake in the middle of a preheated 375 degree oven for 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 250 degrees, and bake the cheesecake for 50 to 55 minutes more, or until the center is barely set.

Let the cheese cake chill. I stuck mine in the freezer for a few hours. It was perfect!

Top with whip cream and enjoy!