Fireplace Streamers

Fireplace Streamers

Brittany Payne
Parties, Kids

Melody's first birthday party was an ice cream themed party.  The colors were general pastel with the focus on pink, blue, and yellow.  I planned for her to have her smash cake in front of our fireplace so that everyone could see it.  I also wanted to open gifts in this same location.  I knew for gifts we would be sitting down, so I wanted to find some sort of decor that would cover up the actual fireplace.  I already had banners and balloons for the mantel.  I did some searching online and found where someone used streamers to cover their fireplace, so I decided to attempt that!

Melody's FIRST Birthday Party

Melody's FIRST Birthday Party

Brittany Payne
Household, Parties, Kids

I have said this many times, but it is truly so hard to believe our little baby is ONE!  I wanted a fun themed birthday party for Melody, but I didn't want to do a theme that she may want to do one day in the future.  So Brad and I came up with an ice cream themed party.  I personally loved the end result of the party, and it seemed to go over well with our family and friends.  Below are some general birthday party pictures.  This was a very DIY party, so I plan to post about all of the mini-projects that were involved.  I will link them as they are posted, so be on the lookout for those if you are interested!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Brittany Payne
Recipes

I found this recipe in the Family Circle magazine.  You can find the original recipe here.  It sounded really yummy, and I love the lettuce wraps from PF Changs.  It doesn't quite taste like those, but they are really good.  Next time, I plan to make a sauce to add on top of the lettuce wraps.  See what I did below.

Melody's Twelve Month Pictures

Melody's Twelve Month Pictures

Brittany Payne
Kids

Melody was officially twelve months old on May 25th.  It is truly amazing that one whole year has already passed by since Melody was born!  I have so many things to share in the coming weeks regarding her birthday, schedules, and pictures in general.  In the meantime, check out her pictures below.

Pudding Dessert

Pudding Dessert

Brittany Payne
Recipes

On Mother's Day night we were looking for a super easy dessert to make.  I had a few things in the pantry, so I did some googling.  I found a pudding dessert recipe.  I did not use even half of the ingredients that it called for, but I did use the ones I had and wanted.  Check out my variation below.

Baby Painting

Baby Painting

Brittany Payne
Crafts, Kids

Painting with a baby isn't easy.  Honestly, I have been way to afraid to really attempt it.  We tried doing some hand molds at Christmas, and my child refused to open her hands.  I know if I put paint on them, she will just lick the paint off.  I noticed someone posted this method on Facebook not long ago.  With Mother's Day, I decided to make each of our mothers a piece of Melody art.  See the mess free method below!

White Chicken Chili

White Chicken Chili

Brittany Payne
Recipes

Brad's Aunt Cindy recommended this recipe to me a while back.  She found it on pinterest and loved it.  Brad isn't a fan of beans, but he did eat around them.  The only change I made was instead of black beans, I used kidney beans.  It seems like a lot of ingredients, but it is super easy to make!  Check it out below.

Flying with a Baby

Flying with a Baby

Brittany Payne

We took Melody to Disney World back in February.  On that trip, we decided the best option was to fly.  Since Melody was under 2, she flew for free.  We were both a little nervous taking Melody on her first flight, but we successfully made it through both the arrival and departure flights!  We are not professionals by any means.  We have literally only flown with Melody twice, but I have my top ten takeaways from both flights that I want to share below.

Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal Cookies

Brittany Payne
Recipes

So Mondays tend to be my most productive days around the house.  I also plan to cook the most complex meals of the week on Mondays.  Some Mondays I even feel the need to make dessert.  I usually try to make something that will last all week, and one that Brad can take to work.  Brad loves cookies.  I knew I had some oats, but I did not have any butter.  So I googled until I found a cookie recipe without butter.  I made a few tweaks to the original.  Check it out below.

Door Hanger Storage Solution

Door Hanger Storage Solution

Brittany Payne
Household

I have a LOT of door hangers.  I am most positive I have one for every holiday and season.  I have so many, they have literally just been shoved wherever I can find a space for them.  This creates two problems.  One, I sometimes forget I even have a door hanger for a specific holiday or season.  In that case, I either buy a new one or I never get use out of the one I have.  Two, closets become super cluttered.  I have even started putting outdoor door hangers on inside doors!  Brad had a great idea.  He thought we could just hang them on the wall of our garage.  We bought nails a few months ago, and we finally implemented the door hanger storage solution a few weeks ago.  See the before and after below.  Oh, and those aren't even CLOSE to all of the door hangers I have.  Those were just the ones outside in the garage.  I have quite a few in the closets in our house I need to get!

Outdoor Fun

Outdoor Fun

Brittany Payne
Randomness, Kids

Since the weather has warmed up, we try and get outside more with Melody.  She loves being outside, but it is a lot of work sometimes!  Once she is walking, it should be easier.  Anyhow, we are hoping to spend more time outside over the next few months.  Check out some of the recent pictures below!

Manicotti

Manicotti

Brittany Payne
Recipes

Brad absolutely loves manicotti.  If we go to a restaurant that serves it, he will usually order it.  I had never tried it until I had it with him.  His mom also makes it on occasion.  Well I wanted to find a semi-easy recipe to make for him.  I found one online and decided to give it a try.  I did use more spaghetti sauce than the original recipe called for, but I like it with more sauce personally.

Melody's First Easter

Melody's First Easter

Brittany Payne
Kids

Easter weekend started out with an Easter Egg hunt at my in-law's country club.  This was Melody's first Easter Egg hunt, and since she cannot walk yet, it wasn't much of a hunt!  Brad took her around and let her pick up a few eggs though.  

Buffalo Chicken

Buffalo Chicken

Brittany Payne
Recipes

A friend shared this recipe with Brad many years ago.  It is really, really easy.  The chicken itself tastes really good too.  The only struggle I have with this recipe is how to serve the chicken.  I have tried it with salad, wraps (below), and hamburger buns.  So far my favorite is as a salad, but you may like another way!

Disney Monorail Countdown

Disney Monorail Countdown

Brittany Payne
Crafts, Vacations

On our February 2017 trip to Disney World, I wanted a cute countdown that wasn't too involved.  I had just returned from a trip to Disney World with my mom.  Therefore, the countdown would need to be fairly short.  Since Melody was so young, she really wouldn't be involved in this countdown.  So I came up with just an easy countdown that begin 12 days out from our trip.  I used the monorail as inspiration and Pinterest too!  See below.

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