JonBenet Ramsey Special on CBS

Have any of you catched the JonBenet Ramsey special on CBS? I can’t believe it’s been 20 years since that poor girls death. I was just entering high school at the time this occured and remembering back then that the Ramsey’s had something to do with it.

It hasn’t been proven since it’s not a solved case, but all the evidence reviewed in the CBS special lead to Burke Ramsey, her brother who was 9 at the time of her death. The key evidence was the pineapple found in her stomache.

The boy/now man clearly has psychological issues. I am pretty sure he’s an undercover psychopath with the way he smiles constantly when talking about the murder on the  Dr. Phil show.

He sounded like he was extremely jealous of his sister. He didn’t like something about gifts on christmas morning. He didn’t like JonBenet taking his pineapple that evening  He then snapped and hit her with the flash light over the head which is what lead to her death. A year before, he hit her with a golf club and claimed it was an accident. But he was having a tantrum about something then too. Coincidence? I think not!

Then the Ramsey parents covered it up by writing a bogus ransom note and staging an intruder scene.

One, an intruder is not going to leave a 3 page ransom and then kill the person they’re trying to get money for.

Two, if they came in that open basememt window, that damn spider web would have been disturbed. They’re not fooling anyone and it’s mind baffling that they wouldn’t give their baby girl justice and get their son with mental issues some help.

Everything about him just screams awkward and disturbed. Watching the videos of them asking him questions… his demeanor was just off. Him discluding his sister in a family portrait he decided to draw after the murder was a little odd too. And who smears feces on jonbenet’s gifts, candy wrappers, the wall and her bed? A sociopathic little boy who can’t handle not being the center of attention, that’s who.

I believe he did it with intentions to really hurt her since he didn’t care she was gone or dead at all in the interviews.

What a sick, sick individual. 

And for the Ramsey’s to cover it up is despicable!
Do you believe Burke Ramsey did it?

Bird Themed Baby Shower For One of My Sisters

Bird Themed Baby Shower For One of My Sisters

For the past couple months, I’ve been working on one of my sister’s baby showers (yes another one) all the while trying to focus more on blogging and my etsy shop. Etsy has been slow this month for me, so it’s given me a little breathing room to get stuff done in preparation for the baby shower.

Since my sister is obsessed with birds, I of course decided to do a bird themed baby shower since this will be her last child.

I bought most of my supplies from Joanns since I can use multiple coupons, which in turn saves me more money.

Bird Themed Baby Shower

Premade bird houses at Joanns are inexpensive. All you need is a little paint and some paint brushes.

The colors she wanted were mint and navy blue. I had a hard time finding mint colored items, so I made due with other color variations.

Bird themed Baby Shower

A bird house cant be a bird house without birds, so I then cut out a bird image on card stock paper and mod podged it onto the front. My plan was to stick it on top of a diaper cake. (Unfortunately, I didn’t get a better photo than the one I took at 11pm the night before the baby shower.)

Bird themed Baby Shower

For baby showers, I try to create stuff that won’t get thrown away. That way, my time, money and energy isn’t wasted.

I then created a bird themed name banner out of card stock paper and ribbon. I always do a name instead of “baby shower” or “welcome baby” because they’re more likely be tossed in the trash.

Name banners can be hung in the nursery by a crib or bed.

Bird themed Baby Shower

I found this pink chalkboard sign at Michaels on clearance for a couple dollars, but I didn’t have mint colored vinyl so I decided to paint it the same color as the bird house and applied navy blue vinyl. The vinyl wasn’t wanting to stick to the paint, so I had to put a mod podge gloss coat over it to get it to stay. It worked and gave it a glossy effect instead of matte and flat!

I found the premade bird nest at a vintage shop for a few bucks, so I grabbed it and applied it with some mod podge as well.

Bird themed Baby Shower

For the item below, I had a little something different in mind. I didn’t find the right type of twig branch I wanted to use, so I made the thick branch work instead.

I cut out double sided birds in coordinating colors to the theme (I decided to add in pink since navy blue and mint didn’t scream WELCOME BABY GIRL Lol) and dangled them from twine. Then I added flowers onto the branch with some mod podge.

Bird themed Baby Shower

Makes a great backdrop and nursery decor for a little ones bird themed room.

Again, not the best photo, but I had no other place to hang it with natural light near.

I also made some bird shaped bird feeders out of bird seed, gelatin, honey and water. My friend picked up the bird seed and it wasn’t the right type. It didn’t want to dry very well inside the cookie cutters and kept breaking in spots. These 6 were the only ones to survive and then I left them at home. Go figure. They were supposed to be a favor gift for those who didn’t win any of the games or diaper raffle.

Bird themed Baby Shower

And unfortunately, the baby shower day we selected called for rain. There was no real protection from getting wet since we were outside at a park, so we packed stuff up and moved it to my sisters small apartment since half the people didn’t come anyways. I hate that! But at least she enjoyed it and I guess that’s all that matters. But, that’s PNW weather for ya! Felt like the first official day of Fall and looked like it too.

When I set stuff up at the baby shower, I didnt get any pics and neither did anyone else besides that one. There really wasn’t a place to put everything to make it cute, but I made due with the space we had.

For food, we did potato salad, chips, sandwhiches for the kids, pinwheels for adults, deviled eggs, a vegetable and fruit tray in the shape of an owl.

Bird themed baby shower

One of my other sisters did the fruit tray and I did the veggies.

Bird themed Baby Shower

I left the eye area open to put ranch when we arrived at the shower. Then you top it off with a couple of cherry tomatoes as well for the eyes.

And yes, that is a purple platter. I couldn’t find pink or blue. Lol

So this is our bird themed baby shower. I didn’t take a picture of a couple of things, but she loved it all. If she didn’t, I’d have to beat her. Ha.

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Seaside, Oregon Beach Trip for Labor Day Weekend

seaside oregon

This labor day, we decided to make an end of summer beach trip since we hadn’t been to the beach since Arya was like a month old. It was time to give her a new experience, one that she probably won’t remember when she’s older, but will remember right now in the moment.

My husband works a new job for a vacation rental place doing QA work. Well come to find out, they give their employees in the office a $250 credit on their birthdays, (his is Sep 1st) so we were able to use that towards a vacation house in Seaside, Oregon on top of his employee discount. It was a pretty decent deal! It had 2 bedrooms, a bath, and a nice-sized living area for a small family. To be honest, this was way better than paying for an overpriced hotel that’s the size of a sardine can with no fridge.

seaside oregon

View of the river from our condo.

We weren’t right on the boardwalk or oceanfront, but that didn’t bother me too much since we could either walk half a mile or just drive on over to the main strip.

Thursday when we arrived, it was pretty gloomy and rainy. It’s typical PNW weather, so it’s to be expected. Just always bring a rain jacket or coat with you while on vacation. Doesn’t matter what time of year, it can and will rain at any time. LOL

So the first day, we walked on the strip for a little bit and then stepped out on the sandy beach, but didn’t stay long since we didn’t arrive until after 5 pm and we needed to eat.

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How to Remove Stickers Easily

How to Remove Stickers Easily

Stickers, stickers, stickers…

One thing that really annoys me is those super hard to get off stickers on products you buy at the store like picture frames, cups or even a chalkboard sign. It ends up taking lots of elbow grease, soap and water, and even a scrubby pad to get that bad boy to come off. Well, not anymore!

There’s a simple resolution to my crafting annoyance and it’s GOO GONE, which I ended up finding at Target.

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No more stuck on stickers, which in turn helps my business production output be a lot simpler and quicker.

If you don’t already know, I sell glassware, signs and pretty much anything I can stick vinyl to on Etsy. And those items sometimes end up coming with those darned stuck on stickers.

How to remove stickers

How to remove stickers easily

  • Spray a little GOO GONE on the sticker.
  • Let it sit for a couple minutes.
  • Wipe off.
  • Wash with hot soapy water.
  • and wa-la, it’s gone!

How to remove stickers

Life’s messes sometimes show up in some hard to clean places.

For any sticky, gooey mess on a vertical surface, Goo Gone Spray Gel is the anti-freakout formula; which is especially helpful if you have kids or even pets!

Of note: Do not use on silk, leatger, suede, rubber, faux stainless steel, drywall, unfinished wood surfaces and unsealed stone.

Head on over to the Goo Gone website for helpful video tips and other useful ways to clean up stuck on messes.

Jennmakesitcute.etsy.com

The end result. Custom chalkboard door sign.

Chicken Bacon Mac and Cheese Recipe

Chicken Bacon Mac and Cheese Recipe

This post is sponsored by Foster Farms Simply Raised fresh chicken but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Comfort food to me means carbs and sugars, and what better comfort food is there than mac and cheese!?

Why Foster Farms No Antibiotics Ever Simply Raised Fresh Chicken bacon mac and cheese of course!

It’s about the only thing that I can currently get my daughter to eat, so in order to get some protein in there that’s healthier, I buy the Foster Farms Simply Raised Chicken which contains no antibiotics ever at Target and incorporate it into our mac and cheese.

I like this chicken because it’s locally grown here in the PNW and California with no antibiotics ever. It’s fresh, all natural chicken that is American Humane Certified and fed a 100% vegetarian diet, without any added hormones or steroids. Foster Farms has been family-owned since its founding in 1939, which has been committed to producing only the highest-quality poultry for you and your family.

It’s also local, partnering with local family farms in the Pacific Northwest (depending on consumer location) so you can be rest assured the chicken you’re buying is delivered fresh within 48 hours or less.

And I’m not sure what’s going on with her eating habits, but my sister who has 3 kids assures me it is normal and a “stage” that’ll surely pass. I just hope it passes soon!

If you haven’t made mac and cheese before, it’s pretty simple and quick to put together. I need simple right now since I am trying to run a business, a blog and entertain a now toddler. Mom life; gotta love it!

 

Chicken bacon mac and cheese

 

Chicken Bacon Mac and Cheese Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb. macaroni pasta (or whatever noodles you prefer)
1 lb of chicken
1/2 c. of chopped bacon (I buy the precooked stuff from costco in a bag)
3 green onions chopped (or skip)
4 c. milk
½ c. flour
½ c. butter
6 c. freshly shredded sharp or white cheddar, or whatever cheese you prefer.
2 T. butter
1 T. salt
pepper to taste
2 T. of olive oil for chicken

(makes 10-12 servings)

Directions:

  • Boil the pasta as stated on package directions.
  • Cut up the chicken into 1/2″ cubes. Toss them in a medium skillet with the olive oil over medium heat and cook about 10 minutes or until edges are opaque.
  • Chop up the green onions and toss them in with the chicken. Once chicken is about done, toss the bacon in.
  • Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat.
  • Once melted, sprinkle in flour and whisk it until smooth for 2-3 minutes.
  • Add in the salt and pepper.
  • Slowly pour in the milk, whisking it until smooth until thickened.
  • Stir in the shredded cheese until it’s a melty cheese sauce.
  • Pour over cooked noodles and top it off with the chicken, bacon and onions and stir altogether.

Chicken bacon mac and cheese

And enjoy!

Head on over to the Foster Farm page where you’ll find other great recipes that are a little more healthy and are considered the #newcomfortfood.  The new comfort food is a modern interpretation of a classic comfort food dish with a healthy twist.