Saturday, January 31, 2015

12 Free Valentines Day Crochet Patterns

With Valentines Day just around the corner, now is the time to start thinking about Valentines gifts and projects. Lucky for us, there are so many talented crocheters out there willing to share their beautiful patterns. We can always use some inspiration, so I decided to put together a grouping of my favourite crochet patterns which all have one thing in common, Valentines Day of course! :)



** Please pin from the original source, let's give credit where it's due! **



























Aren't all of these designs fantastic?! I cannot wait to get started on a few, especially that little Crochet Heart Bunny. My girls would absolutely adore him!! Which are your favourite?

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Much Ado About Monday {No. 96}

Hello, friends!

We're so glad to have you here for week 96 of Much Ado About Monday!

This week, my husband and I have been busy hanging things up around the house....


I've been *very* indecisive about where I've wanted to hang all of our pictures.. but, after a bit of encouragement from my husband, I was finally able to figure out where a few things should go. :)


My biggest challenge was organizing the gallery wall. It's larger than the one that I had in our last home and it took me about 2 hours to come up with this layout. I *think* this is how it will end up on the wall. If it's not, my husband isn't going to be too happy! Ha ha! :)


We were also busy little bees here at Huckleberry Love this week. Lydia shared this gorgeous little dress as her Week 2 creation for Project 52 (more on that here), while I rounded up 12 Healthy Casseroles, Bakes and One Pot Dishes for the Busy Mama. I can't wait to make a few of these delicious recipes! Our biggest news of the week was that we are adding a NEW Huckleberry to our crew! That's right, Jamie is expecting baby number four this Summer. We're all incredibly thrilled for her and can't wait to see if she'll be having another little girl or if her husband will finally get his boy! :)

There were so many amazing projects, recipes and ideas shared at our party last week! It was definitely hard to pick our favorites, but here they are:


Lydia's Pick: Valentine Ribbon Art via The Ribbon Retreat
Jill's Pick: Paper Bows via Simple Joys
Jamie's Pick: Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies via My Organized Chaos
Emily's Pick: Fresh Orange Smoothie via My Organized Chaos

And last week's most viewed post was:



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Saturday, January 24, 2015

Huckleberry Life: 5+1=6... Here we go again!!

Yes, you read correctly. Another little Huckleberry will be joining our family this Summer!

This little ornament was the perfect way to announce the soon to be newest addition to our family. It is a perfect keepsake that I will treasure forever!
I feel like I was just making the announcement that our family was growing to 5 and now we are on our way to 6!! Holy smokes, things are about to get very busy.


The desire to have four children has been in me since the day I decided I wanted to have kids, so for like 20 years. :) I can honestly say that Dwayne was ready to call 'er quits after our third little lady came into the picture last Spring, but after some thought and consideration we decided a fourth would just complete our family perfectly. I mean, we're already outnumbered anyway, so why not, lol. :)

Ultrasound at 21 weeks. Everything looks great!!
I cannot wait to meet this new little person! As we have done with all of our babies, we won't find out the gender until he or she arrives so until then, the excitement and anticipation will be building.

My three little ladies are so excited to meet their new little playmate and I cannot wait to see them all together. They seem to have mixed ideas about what we will be having this time around. Jaydn is insistent that we will have a little boy this time, whereas Brynn is definitely against that idea, lol. Either way, I know the four of them will be the best of friends. :)


I can't wait to introduce you all to this new little person in a few months, but until then I'll be posting lots of fun baby related things. I have a feeling my crochet hooks will be very busy. :)



Friday, January 23, 2015

12 Healthy Casseroles, Bakes and One Pot Dishes for the Busy Mama

 As a busy Mama of 3 little ones, I'm a big fan of any meal that contains protein, along with fruits and/or veggies in one dish! I make casseroles, bakes and one pot meals atleast twice a week. And now that I've finally found the perfect gym to join, I'm ready to get back into "healthy food" mode. So, I thought I would round up a few different healthy one pot meals to share with y'all. Because, really, who doesn't love a good casserole? ;)
 

**Please be sure to pin from the original source!**
 
Mediterranean Baked Chicken via The Clever Carrot

 
 
 
 


 
 
Baked Oatmeal Casserole via Inspired by Life



Chicken and Roasted Vegetable Bake via Healthy Food Nerd
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake via Tasty Kitchen
 

 
Kielbasa and Cabbage Skillet via Very Culinary
 
 

 
 
 
 Bacon, Egg and Potato Casserole via Jeanette's Healthy Living

 
 Don't these look delicious! I can't wait to try the Oatmeal Casserole and the Mediterranean Baked Chicken! Do you have any healthy one dish recipes to share? If so, please leave a link to it in the comments... the more, the merrier!
 

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Project 52 {Week 2}

Project 52 is moving right along! I am managing to post my projects the week that I finish them in the Project 52 Facebook group {I would love it if you would join us in the group!} but am running a bit behind with the posts here. But I am finishing one project a week and that's what really matters, right?! {If you are new and want to know more about Project 52, check it out here!}



For the second week, I made this adorable dress for my youngest daughter. I was chosen by Mandy K Designs to be a pattern tester for her English Rose dress and I adore this dress!


I decided to try piping for the first time and I LOVE how it turned out on the Peter Pan collar. It was much simpler than I was anticipating, mostly because of this wonderful tutorial by Little Girl Pearl. Thank goodness for people who know insider tips and share them with others!

 

The large bow in the back of the dress is so cute and even more so when my 16-month-old is toddling around with the bow bobbing around behind her.



The pleated sash is adorable but I will be honest: I had a hard time with it for some reason. I wasn't happy with the first two tries and am still not 100% thrilled with the finished product. I think it's because I used thinner, cheaper fabric and it just didn't hold the shape was well as it could have. The pattern does have the option for a simple plain sash and when I make this dress again I will probably skip the pleats for the simple option.


Overall though, the dress is adorable! And {pleated sash and all} I just love it.



Two down, fifty to go! 




Linking up at these lovely parties: