Easter Mantle {and a free printable!}

You guys!

I have a mantle to decorate!

Well, sort of...

Ok, so it's a shelf, but it's mine and I get to decorate it however I want after a year and a half of keeping my decorations in a box! It makes me happy.

It's a good combination of things we already had and a few new goodies.

Here are the goods:

The candle holders were a wedding gift from my Aunt and Uncle. I can't find the candles for them so they're doubling as sort-of apothecary jar/candy bowls. The little bird used to sit on top of our cabinets in AZ. We don't have cabinet tops anymore so he'll need a new home. Maybe this is it. The nest is from the dollar section at Target! Woot!

Isn't the bunny cute? Hobby Lobby, 40% off. Go hit up the Easter sales before they pack them up! I love tulips. They might be my favorite. Since I'm dealing with a red wall I had to skip the pretty pink ones, but I like the white ones too!

My favorite part is the banner. It just finishes the whole thing off in a way that makes me happy.

You know what else makes me happy? Giving things to you! Not only do I have a tutorial for that little banner, but I have a printable for you, too! You'll be able to grab it at the end of this post.

Here we go!

I could have just cut triangles and handwritten the letters, but I have not been blessed with cute lettering skills. I knew it would make me crazy if I tried, so I dove into Photoshop and made myself a little template, complete with cute font.

I started with paper grocery bags:

Using a piece of paper as a template I cut the bags into 81/2 by 11 pieces. I ended up needing 3 bags to get the pieces I needed.

I ran them through my printer and printed out my templates.

Then used some pinking shears (the cheap craft kind!) to cut them out.

From there I strung them on some twine and hung it up. Done and done!

Confessions:
- I wish it was a little bit smaller. Not enough to make another one, but I'll probably re-do it next year.
- I may or may not have hot-glued the banner to my shelf.
- This is literally the only spot in our new house that is finished. Priorities.

Want to make your own banner? Download your free printable HERE!

Be blessed!

Heather

I'm linking up at: Sorta Crunchy

Pinned It, Tried It:Oven Baked Eggs

Hey there friends!

This time of year is egg season, for sure. Real ones, plastic ones, and my personal favorite...chocolate ones!

However, it's the hard-boiled ones I want to talk to you about today.

I have a confession: I hate boiling eggs. For real. Hate.

I know, it's kind of right up there with boiling pasta, but I always manage to mess it up. Under cooked, over cooked, rubbery, green around the edges...ick.

Then I saw this:

Source: healthylivinghowto.com via Kate on Pinterest

Eggs in the oven? Could it be? This I had to try.

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter (@Its_ALongStory) you probably saw this little experiment in real time. Here it is for the rest of you!

Here goes nothin...(or, a dozen eggs, whatev!)

 Out of the oven, into an ice bath they go!

Success! 

Results: I'm never boiling eggs again. 25-30 minutes in the oven at 325. No watching, no tricks, easy peasy. I did 2 dozen eggs in my mini-muffin pan last night.

Truths:
- Some eggs still get green around the edges. Probably the smallest ones in the batch.
- Some eggs are still harder to peel. I think that's just the reality of eggs. My mom says the fresher eggs are harder to peel, so if you need perfectly peeled eggs, maybe buy them a few days before your event?
- Some people stated that the whites of oven baked eggs were fluffier. I didn't necessarily think that, but they certainly aren't rubbery! I call it a win.

Now we get to do this!

Be blessed!

Heather

Have a Great Morning with Aunt Jemima

Hey there friends.

Want a little peek into our mornings? Abbey has to be up and out the door 4 days a week, three for preschool and one for gymnastics. Here's a bit of what those mornings look like...

"Abbey....it's time to get up."

"Come one, honey bunny...up!"

(that right there is the face of a staller, ladies and gentlemen!)

"Do you want pancakes for breakfast?"

Ahhh....there it is! Pancakes for the win!

Unfortunately, not every morning has time for pancakes. At least not homemade ones. Enter Aunt Jemima Lil' Griddles!

Pancakes that I can stick in the microwave and have ready for the tiny child in less than a minute? With no mess? Bring. It. ON! 

Now, we're no strangers to frozen breakfasts. I've tried other frozen pancakes, but I think Aunt Jemima Lil' Griddles are my new favorite. The other's that I have tried have always been really sweet, which I don't get. Why do I need sweet pancakes? I'm going to put syrup on them! The Aunt Jemima  pancakes taste the closest to homemade that I have found. 

I also love that there isn't any junk in them. We are not food purists, not even close, but I do try to avoid things like High Fructose Corn Syrup and food dyes. You won't find any of those things in these pancakes! Actually, just about everything on the list of ingredients is something I have in my kitchen right now! (I'm fresh out of whey...darn it!)  How often does that happen?  With real eggs, milk, and sugar they really do live up to their tag line "every batch made from scratch". 

(This is what happens when she sees a camera...we're in for trouble!)

I love being able to give Abbey a great breakfast on busy mornings. She's a busy, growing girl, and needs her energy for the day. I am so grateful for companies like Aunt Jemima that help me do that in a healthy way.

Be blessed!

Heather

Thank you to Aunt Jemima Frozen Breakfast for being a sponsor. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Lovin' Bloglovin'!

Hey there friends!

I know I'm not breaking the news that Google Reader is going away. I'm sure, by now, you've heard that ad nauseum.

However, I am jumping on the BlogLovin' train!

I hesitated to try out BlogLovin' when it first came out. It just felt like one more thing to deal with, and why bother when I have good ol' Reader, right?

Wrong.

I'm in love. BlogLovin' is more streamlined, just as easy to use and has an app!

Yes, that's right, I can finally read my beloved blogs from my phone. Let the unproductiveness abound!

So now you can follow It's A Long Story on BlogLovin'. Just click that little link down there.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Be blessed!

Heather