Pumpkin Cupcakes

I love fall. The colors of the leaves. The cool, crisp air. Sweaters. Pumpkin Spice Lattes. It's all good by me.

Speaking of Pumpkin Spice... don't Pumpkin Spice cupcakes sound amazing? They are.

I made a batch of Pumpkin Spice cupcakes today. And decorated the cupcakes to look like little pumpkins. Delicious and adorable. Win win.

My mouth waters just looking at 'em. 

Now, I did get my inspiration for these little guys from "Hello, Cupcake" by Karen Tack Alan Richardson. I made a few adjustments for my purposes, but the idea is the same. If you don't own this book already, I suggest you buy it. There are some seriously cute ideas. I already know what I want to make for Nug Bun's 1st birthday... which isn't until next May! What can I say... being a baker is one of my many, many life ideas.

Book Review: Eat, Pray, Love

I just finished reading "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. It took me about a month and a half to read this book - not because it's a difficult read, but because, well, I'm a mom. 

My favorite character in the book is Richard from Texas. I found myself laughing out loud a little every time he refers to Liz as "Groceries" because of her ability to out-eat everyone else. I don't know why that's so humorous to me, but his character made reading this book even more enjoyable. 


While reading this book, I had a few moments where I had to remind myself that it's a true story. The experiences Liz had while on her year long hiatus were emotional. It's nice to live vicariously through literature sometimes. Not that I have any intention of living in an Ashram in India for four months, or desire to have any of the horrible things happen to me that led her to take her journey, but the Italian food binge doesn't sound half bad. And traveling... I'm jealous of her travels.

If you have not yet read this book I suggest you add it to your list of reads. It's a good one. Now I can finally watch the movie. 

Car Seat Blanket

While blog surfing last night, I came across a tutorial for a Ribbon Blanket from The Crafty Cupboard.

I used this tutorial as inspiration to make Nug Buns a Ribbon Blanket that I'm now naming the Car Seat Blanket. Nug Buns now loves to have toys to hang on to while we're riding in the car, but when she drops the toy... well, you know how that story ends. When I saw the Ribbon Blanket I immediately thought that I could use it to attach her toys to while she's in the car seat. The toys will only go as far as the blanket.

So, using some ideas from The Crafty Cupboard, I whipped this little number up in about an hour.

 (Sorry for the terrible night time picture!)

Here's what I did:

-I used some of Nug Bun's old receiving blankets because we don't use them much anymore and they're too soft and cozy to not do anything with

-I cut 13"x13" squares of three different blankets and green minky dot fabric

-I added warm and natural batting to give the blanket some more substance and make it heavier (so it won't easily fall off Nug Buns lap while in the car seat!)

-I top stitched around each square to reinforce the batting

Other than those adjustments, I followed along with THIS tutorial.

Onto the next project. I'm going to try and finally refinish a bookshelf that I picked up for free on the side of the road a few month ago. And since this week's theme on Crafting with the Stars over at Sew Dang Cute is paint I thought this would be the perfect week to attempt to get this done!

Freezer Paper Stenciling

I tried my hand at freezer paper stenciling today. After a few "learning curves" I figured out the best way to do it. I'm happy with the end result.

I wasn't confident enough to make Eva's Halloween costume this year, so I purchased one. Costco had really cute baby Halloween costumes by Carter's, so I let my husband pick one out for her. He chose the cow. It doesn't come with a shirt, so I decided to make her this "Moo!" onesie to wear underneath. Can't wait to see her on Halloween! I'll be sure to post pictures.

Burp Cloths: Tutorial from Homemade by Jill

I consider myself an amateur sewer. Lately, I've been scouring craft blogs trying to find tutorials for easy things to make for Nug Buns. I know I need to ease back into the world of sewing and not choose projects that will have me pulling my hair out. Burp cloths from Homemade by Jill are just the thing. First of all, they're adorable, and oh so soft. And the bonus is that they're so easy to make. I made this set for my niece who is due in about a month!

So, head on over to Homemade by Jill, follow THIS tutorial, and whip yourself up some burp cloths. I promise you'll love 'em! 

Throw Pillow Facelift

I realize the irony of completing this project right after my last post about decorating for the season because there is nothing seasonal about these pillows.  Anyways, I've had yucky old cheap throw pillows on my couch for a year now. They were originally there just to hold us over until I found some that I really liked to go with my decor. Well, it's been a year now and although I've found a ton of cute throw pillows, I can't justify spending $10 to $30 dollars each, especially when I want six.

So, the other day, while perusing IKEA (loooove IKEA), I came accross their fabric. I have heard that IKEA has fabric, but have never taken the time to check it out. The selection isn't that great, but for my purposes, it was perfect. I didn't even go to IKEA to find fabric, so this was an added bonus. Anyways, here's what I found...

The stripe and print were $7.99/yard and the solid was $3.99/yard. Not too bad for a nice heavy weight fabric and perfect for throw pillows. 

So, farewell yucky, cheap-o throw pillows, you will not be missed...

And hello, freshly covered, beautiful, new throw pillows...

And I must mention that this was so incredibly easy to do (I'm a very, very amateur sewer). I just sewed the two sides and top together with fabric right side together, turn right side out, stuffed my pillow in there, pinned up the bottom, and top stitched closed. All six pillows took me less than two hours. And if Nug Buns actually took naps then I would say this is the perfect nap time project, but she doesn't.... 

Decorating Seasonally

For whatever reason, now that I'm a Mom, I feel like I need to decorate for the seasons/holidays. In the past, I've just decorated with what I want, when I want, not really paying any attention to seasons or holidays (with the exception of Christmas). Even though Eva is only 5 months old and will likely not remember autumn of 2010 or Halloween, I still really wanted to get pumpkins and make my entry way look fall-ish.

So, we went to the pumpkin patch this last weekend. Not only did we get three (daddy, mommy and baby) pumpkins, but we also scored some adorable pictures of Nug Buns. Such as....

I wanted a wreath for the front door, too, and while purusing Goodwill last week I found a half-finished wreath project that someone abandoned and I picked it up for two bucks! And Michael's already had their fall garland on sale for 60% off (I'm not sure why - it's not even Halloween yet!), but I was happy because I was able to make this...

... for under 10 bucks!

Now my front porch looks like this...

... and I'm a happy girl. And, strangely, I feel more motherly by decorating seasonally. Happy Autumn!

New Fall Fashion

Yesterday I drove all over town trying to find a brown long sleeved shirt and brown tights for Nug Buns to wear with her new Baby Owl Dress. I couldn't find any plain brown shirts. They all had writing on them. And all of the tights were striped or polka dotted. Then I remembered a post on Samster Mommy about Rainbow Onesies. Yes! So I picked up a three pack of white, long sleeved onesies, white tights, and a package of brown Rit dye. I have never dyed clothes before...wait, tye-dye counts, right? O.K. I have never dyed clothes one color. I was surprised to find out that it's so easy! Just follow the directions on the box and you've got the perfect little brown shirt and adorable brown tights. I can't wait to dye more shirts and tights to go under dresses for winter.

Freshly bathed and adorning her new digs and you've got one cute babe. 

Baby Owl Dress

I finished my first dress tonight. It feels so good. It's adorable (in my humble opinion) and I wish I could take all the credit... but, I can't. My mom helped me out every step of the way with this little gem. I haven't sewn an article of clothing in.... oh, about 15 years (yes, that would make me 10 years old... I know!). Let's just say I'm a little rusty. Regardless, our hard work paid off and I can't wait to get little Nug Buns in this thing.

And no outfit is complete without a little somethin' somethin' for the hair, right? 

I've really been into headbands with detachable clippies since Nug Buns was born, but lately I've been more into just clipping a little barette right onto her hair. I think it makes her look more grown up... if that's even possible for a 5-month-old. I got the inspiration for this little clippie from Sewing in No Man's Land and you can find the tutorial HERE. I didn't feel like going all out with the headband, although I love it and will soon make one. All I gotta say is Kelly is one amazing mama. I've got at least ten of her projects on my ever expanding to-do list. 

Sweet Pea Patterns

I was introduced to Sweet Pea Patterns via the amazing blog, luvinthemommyhood. I fell in love with the Retro Baby Sneakers the minute I saw them and knew I had to make a pair. I just got the pattern today and have intentions of finishing these puppies up this week to match a new dress I'm currently working on for Nug Buns. 

Check out Sweet Pea Patterns HERE. She's got some amazing stuff. And those little shoes are just too delicious to pass up.

Nug Buns

Let me start off by explaining why I decided to call this blog Nug Buns. When I was pregnant with my daughter, my husband and I started coming up with funny future nicknames. Nugget was one of them. When she was born, we called her Nugget a lot because to us she was "just a little nugget." Silly? Yes. The past few months the nickname has transformed from Nugget to Nug to The Nug to Nugs and so on. Now it's Nug Buns and that seems to be sticking. I'm not sure how much she'll like that nickname when we call out "Good job, Nug Buns!" from the stands at her soccer game. But, for now, she's our little Nug Buns. And since my world pretty much revolves around her these days this blog is named for her (oh... her real name is Eva). Welcome to Nug Buns!