Super Easy Pumpkin Crumb Cake

I'm so excited to share this recipe. I always know when I find or create a good recipe when it disappears quick, and boy does this go quick at my house. This recipe comes from a combination of a couple pinterest finds, plus a few revisions of my own. LOVE. (Original recipe sources: Pretty.Good.Food  and Mommy I'm Hungry)

Super Easy Pumpkin Crumb Cake

INGREDIENTS:
Cake:
1/3 c. water
1/2 can pumpkin
2 eggs
1 TBSP vanilla
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (I always just make my own: 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, & 1/4 tsp. ground cloves)
1 box yellow cake mix
1 tsp. baking soda

Crumb Topping:
3/4 c. rolled oats
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
6 TBSP butter
(I am always generous with the rolled oats and the brown sugar - because to me, that's what makes a better crumb topping)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan.
Mix water, pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice together. Once combined, add the cake mix and baking soda. Mix until just combined. Pour into prepared pan. Set aside.
Make the crumb topping by mixing all the ingredients until crumbly. Sprinkle on top of the cake batter already in the 9x13 pan.
Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Serve warm or let cool. Either way is delicious!

Big Boy Room

Wow, was it really April when I posted last?  Ha ha. I must be lame. Just kidding.

We moved our boy in to his new 'big boy' room last weekend. I'm in love with the whole thing. And we did it for so cheap. Cheap I tell you. And he's in love with the room. Just proves that kids don't need a bunch of expensive things to make them happy!

We spent an entire week beforehand painting the room. Really, it took us that long because we worked on it a little here and there mostly after the boy had gone to sleep. Plus, we used 3 different colors, and each needed more than one coat. But, after all the work, I absolutely LOVE the paint in the room.

I read a million different online tutorials about how to get crisp, clean lines. What we ended up doing is taping the lines off, painting one coat with the original wall color, letting it dry, then painting the new color on top of it and removing the paint while still wet. And repeating for every line. It was work. But it turned out awesome! Look at those clean lines! We did have some tiny little touch-ups to do afterward, but they were no big deal, and even now when I look at the wall I can't see any mishaps. Sure beats the other paint jobs we've done in the past.

This is my favorite part of the room:

Isn't that so awesome? We love baseball in our house, and what boy wouldn't love a huge scoreboard with their name on it?  I got the original idea from Signs by Andrea. Check her site out. I painted this sign all by hand, no vinyl lettering for me. Cost me $4 for the piece of wood plus the paint. Not bad for such a big impact.

Here's his cool new bedding to fit with the theme:

I made the bedsheet, following this tutorial, and then whipped up a pillowcase with some leftover pieces to tie it all together.

And finally, the reading corner:

The rug was a super find at Ross one day - $5.99. I had intentions to splurge on a baseball beanbag chair, but everything I found online had horrible reviews. So until I find the perfect one, we'll work with the floor pillows that were in the basement going unused anyway.

Lastly, that hanging ball lamp at IKEA was the best $9 ever spent. My engineer husband even added a on/off switch so we don't have to unplug it out of the wall when it's not in use.

What do you think? Do you love it? Would your boy love this room? Mine sure does! Even my husband wishes it was his room :)

My New Apron

I love aprons.

They remind me of my mom.

She always seems to have an apron on.

And I wanted a cute apron.

I found so many cute ones online to make,

I may have to make some more.

Here is the apron I really loved.

It is a combination of this one I saw on Flirty Aprons

and this tutorial.

I am so happy with how it turned out.

I LOVE IT!

I love the fabric I used - I love the 2 prints together.

My favorite part:

It's reversible!

Score!

2 aprons in one.

I followed the tutorial above to make it, with a few exceptions.

Here are the changes I made:
Rounded the bottom of the apron
(to make it more like the Flirty Apron style)

Added pleats around the pocket

(cut 2" strips and pleats are measured every 1 inch)

Changed the bottom pleats

(cut at 5.5" and not the tutorials 6") 

(pleat strips are measured every 3" with a 1" pleat instead of 2" for both)

The apron tie goes around the front of the apron so I can tie in back

Sewed a strip on to the backside so either way has a waist tie.

Added simple pockets to the backside

What I'd do differently next time:

I don't like how thick the seams are when sewing the strips together for the pleats and the waistband. I would use the technique used when making your own quilt binding.

Here is a tutorial on what I'm trying to describe.

Easter Lesson

Are you looking for an Easter lesson idea? 

We had a great Easter FHE tonight, and I thought I'd share the idea.
I've had this object lesson for a while and I just love it.
It's perfect for little kids.
We used it as our Easter lesson when we taught Sunbeams.
Kids love opening up their egg to see what is inside.

Here is what we have inside the eggs:

#1: Coins (Mark 14:44/Matthew 27:1-2) Judas sold Jesus for some money. But later Judas repented and returned the money. But it was too late for Jesus.

#2: Rope (Matthew 27:1-2) Jesus was bound by the soldiers and led away.

#3: Thorn (Matthew 27:28-30) The soldiers made a crown of thorns and put it on Jesus' head.

#4: Nail (Matthew 27:31-32) The soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross.

#5: Dice (Matthew 27:35) The soldiers divided Jesus' clothes among themselves, and cast lots.

#6: Sponge (Matthew 27:48) Some people standing by Jesus on the cross took a sponge and filled it with vinegar for Jesus to drink.

#7: Toothpick (John 19:34) A soldier pierced His side with a spear and Jesus bled.

#8: White cloth (Matthew 27:58-60) Joseph (a disciple) took Jesus' body, and wrapped in a clean, white cloth.

#9: Cloves & Cinnamon (John 19:40) And with the white cloth, the disciples put spices on Jesus' body.

#10: Rock (Matthew 27:66) They laid Jesus in a tomb, and rolled a big rock in front of the doorway.

#11: Matchstick (Ether 4:12) Jesus taught "I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world"

#12: Empty (Matthew 28:5-6) After 3 days, Jesus' followers went back to the tomb. But an angel told them "I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." And the tomb was empty.

For our treats, we made "Resurrection Rolls" Have you heard of these? I know I've seen them online called several things. Basically, you take biscuit dough, spread butter, cinnamon, and sugar. Put a large marshmallow inside, wrap it up (like a tomb) and bake. When it comes out, the marshmallow is gone, leaving "the tomb" empty.

Little Boy Tie

Today I made the little boy a new tie for church.

I love how it turned out.

I can't wait for him to wear it soon.

He'll look very sharp.

I followed this tutorial on Very Homemade.

Wardrobe Overhaul

Do you ever just get tired of your entire closet? 

I was in a clothes rut for a while, but now I'm happy to say I'm out of it. 

And all it cost me was about $13 and some time. 

$13...seriously. 

How?

I revamped some pieces from the back of my closet and bought a few items at DI to make over.

Ta-da. New clothes for super cheap.

First up, my "new" skinny jeans!

I'm not one to spend a ton on 'fad' clothing.  I personally think skinny jeans belong in this category.  I just can't imagine they're going to stick around in fashionland for a long time.  Therefore, I didn't want to spend good money on them.  Maybe time will prove me wrong, and if so, I may buy me a nice pair.  But for now, here is how I got my skinny jeans on a budget.

I bought a pair of DI jeans for maybe $5, sewed up each of the legs to look like skinny jeans, hemmed the bottom of the jeans because I'm short, and voila!

Second... a new printed dress.

Also, a DI find.  For $8. Only problem was that it was just a hair too short.  No problem around here... I just cut the dress around the waistline, added 3 inches of material, sewed it back together, and now it works! 

I wear a sash (from my closet) around the waistline, but I knew this sash was going with the dress when I eyed the dress.

Third item...a cute ruffled skirt.

I transformed an old linen skirt from the back of my closet that I never wore.

I copied the style of one of my favorite skirts.

I love the layer of ruffles sandwiched in there.

And seriously, the ruffle layer was super easy to sew.

Finished Stockings

As part of my 2012 Resolutions, I'm trying to de-clutter our guest bedroom

The room has evolved into a craft explosion room. 

I have a lot of projects started that have piled up.

So this month I'm working like crazy on Christmas stuff. 

It's never too early, right?

Never mind, that it should have been done before this past Christmas...

I choose to look at the glass half-full.

We now have names on our stockings!

Looks like I stitched those letters on by hand, doesn't it?

A big thanks to my mom for the most awesome glue ever.  She was cleaning out her basement and found it. I'm not sure if you can even buy stuff like this anymore.

With glue, this was such a quick project.
Kinda glad I waited. I would have hand-stitched the letters like a fool if I would have done them before Christmas :)

DIY Hooded Towel

My little boy is growing up too fast!  He's long outgrown the cute hooded towels I received for baby gifts.  Time to move to the jumbo-sized hooded towels!!

The finished towel.  Love it!

Hooded towels have been floating around Pinterest, and I found a lot of tutorials online, so I'll just include links to the sites I looked at:

One Simple Bliss

The Cottage Mama

(The Cottage Home tutorial is my personal favorite, I adore that cute ric-rac edging)

These 3 tutorials are all basically the same, I used bits of each one to know what I was doing.  I wanted to add them all here, so next time I make a hooded towel, I don't need to search all over the internet to find the same tutorials.

Anyway, I just wanted to add one quick little step to save you some time if you have the same problem that I ran into.

The ribbon I wanted to put on needed to be placed a certain direction so it looked just right when finished.  In case you have that same problem, here is a photo of the CORRECT way it should be sewn to the hand towel:

Place the ribbon toward the fold of the towel