Best of the Best: Top Recipes of 2014

Wow, I'm flattered! 

All Free Slow Cooker Recipes named my crock pot orange chicken one of its top recipes of 2014!  

This recipe goes way back to when I first started blogging years ago, and somehow, it caught on right when Pinterest took off.  Since then, it's gotten more hits than I could have ever imagined on my little old blog.  It's really an awesome recipe and one of my absolute favorite from the last several years.  You must try it out if you haven't yet!

DIY Sew Toddler Stuffed Christmas Tree and Ornaments

This was definitely a labor of love project!  2 years later, I finally have something I can show off.  I believe I started this right after Connor's first Christmas when I had the great idea that he could decorate his own child-proof tree the next year.

I started out with some fleece and made my famous stuffed tree, but a giant version that was much bigger than the normal 10-12" one.

The star was the hardest part.  I had to find a way to get it to stay on and be child-friendly.  Using a party hat and a star cut out as my inspiration, I created a felt version that fit on the tree.

It took a few attempts to get it to work, but I figured it out eventually.


I used a blanket stitch around the outside edge of the star.




The ornaments were the hard part, but I wanted to go all out with these.  I did some sketches of the ideas I had, so I would be able to plan the designs.


Seriously, these must have taken months to finish, but the end result was adorable.  Each one has little buttons and hand-stitching on it.

To get the ornaments to stay on the tree, I added big buttons to each tree branch.

At some point, I finally finished this thing and put it in the basement with the other holiday things.  I got busy and forgot about it until the other day when I found it!  Connor is the perfect age for it now and I'm so happy I have it for him!

He loved decorating it!

Banana Cinnamon Oatmeal

I've said before that I love me some breakfast for dinner! I hate cooking after a long day at work so I tend to find really quick ways to eat dinner with a crying baby and crazy toddler running around. Oatmeal is currently one of my favorite dinners (and it also helps with breastmilk supply if you're breastfeeding). I saw this alternative to my normal oatmeal and had to give it a try!

Go to Debbie Does Dinner Healthy to check it out!

DIY Pacifier Clips

Once again, I have a baby that loves their pacifier.  I bought a few clips ahead of time, but I actually like the ones I made even better!  We get a ton of compliments on the chevron one :)

She doesn't look very happy here, but she was very comfy and warm in her flower costume on Halloween with her chevron pacifier clip.

DIY Girly Hanger Hair Bow Holder

I might do have a small addition to baby headbands and bows.  It's so fun to make them and she look so darn cute in them!  Here's a few of the ones I've made for her in the last couple of months: upcycled t-shirt headbands and flower headbands.  The number of hair bows is started to get out of control and she's only 3 months old, so I decided it was time for some organization.  I wanted something that I could hang in her closet so it would be out of the way, but it would also be easily accessible and I would be able to see all her hair accessories at one time.

(I apologize for the photos that are kinda dark.  That's what happens when I get super busy and it's rainy on the one day that I have a few minutes to get some photos done!)

This idea is a combination of several different ones I've seen before and I just mixed them together to create my own concept.  I took a padded hanger from her closet to use as the base.

At the craft store, I found this little wooden tag for less than $1 that would work perfectly for her name.

I painted the wood yellow and then printed out her name in a pretty font.

Using my easy pencil trick, I transferred her name to the wood.

I used a silver marker to trace over the pencil.

To hang the ribbon from the hanger, I used my glue gun.  My warning with this is to make sure you glue it very well and you might even consider using super glue.  Mine broke after a couple days, so I had to redo it.  But I also have WAY too many hair bows for a 3 month old baby!


To add a little extra flair, I added a pretty bow to the top of the hanger.

Of course, I'm going to move this into her closet, but it works well on her doorknob for pictures.  I love it and it's so easy to grab a bow and go!

White Chocolate Berry Cheesecake Dip

This is amazing.

And it's addicting.

I made it for a mom's night out recently and it was gobbled up in no time by my friends!  The recipe is from here, but I doubled the white chocolate chips to 2/3 cup for some extra sweetness.  I brought Nilla wafers to use as dippers and they worked perfectly.  Even if you don't cook, this is super easy to make and will impress everyone!

Connor's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Birthday Party

My big guy just turned 3!


Because of the new baby and such a crazy summer, we did a low-key birthday this year.  Nothing too big and not as many decoration and DIY as normal, but still just as much love and fun!  Connor was into Mickey for the majority of the year, so I decided that was the best bet for his 3rd birthday theme.


The party started at 4:00 after nap time, so we did some easy snacks before picking up pizza for dinner.  The hit of the party were the homemade Mickey & Minnie sugar cookies that we made!  I love baking, but I haven't had the best luck with sugar cookies.  After a lot of research, I found the perfect recipe here, and they came out perfectly!

 

 Mickey watermelon with blueberries

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse serving bowls and Mickey ears for the kids

 

Can't beat balloons for $1 and the best entertainment for toddlers!


Miss Caylee in her party dress :)

Connor with his Mickey birthday cake

He insisted on getting a piece with Mickey's foot on it and then only ate the frosting. Silly guy!

Happy Birthday, Connor!