First Time Mom and Losing It

This post is part of a sponsored campaign with MyPrintly and MomSelect. All thoughts and opinions are my own.


Ever since I can remember I always made my mom homemade gifts for Mother's Day. I remember having my glitter, glue, crayons and construction paper out to make my mom the best card I could. My mom always made such a big deal about my gifts because she would proudly display them and show them to everyone.

Now that I am an adult I like to always include something handmade with my gifts to her. Things are a lot easier when you have kids because all you have to do is stick a picture of a grandkid anywhere and that would be the best gift a grandmother can get. I have made her tons of personalized photo gifts like mugs, photo collages and even a blanket but wanted to do something different this year.

I wanted to create a photo of my daughter that looked like she was giving my mom a flower. Then I made it 3D by printing out the photo and cutting little slits to put a real flower through. To do this I went outside handing my daughter a roll of contact paper. (I wanted it to look like she was holding the stem of a flower). I took tons of shots to have a lot to choose from for the perfect shot.


First I took a picture of my daughter holding her hand out like she was holding a flower. I made sure to take a ton of shots to have a lot to choose from for the perfect shot. Printing out the picture was super easy with my HP Envy 5660 because all I have to do is pop in my SD card and use the touch screen to pick my picture. Then I load up the HP 5" x 7" Photo card into the printer and print away. The quality is so amazing that it looks like I got the picture developed at a photo lab. I followed the same steps to print out the Frame Printable.


Then I took the photo of my daughter and used an exacto knife to cut slits at the top and bottom of her fist. I took a silk flower and cut it from the bunch then I threaded it through the slits on the fist. I cut about 3/4" from the top of the picture. Then I used photo squares on each corner of the back of the photo and taped it onto the frame printable.


If you need some Mother's Day or any day crafting and printable ideas be sure to visit MyPrintly. There you can find tons of ideas with some amazing free printables.

For you chance to win one of three (3) HP Envy Printers follow @MyPrintly on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram, and then click to complete this brief entry form. The contest will end on Friday, May 15th and winners will be randomly selected and notified the following week.  Only residents of the U.S.A. are eligible to enter.

My sister, mom and I always celebrate Mother's Day by cooking together and eating at home. We usually take turns on who will be the main cook and this year it's my turn. My mom and sister will be coming over to my house while we turn up the music, get comfortable and start cooking.

We wanted to eat something quick, easy and yummy so we decided to opt for our favorite spaghetti from Barilla®. I wanted to try the spaghetti with chicken and spicy tomato sauce because my mom loves spicy food. I was thrilled that I got it so easy this year because I found all of the ingredients at my local Walmart. Plus, who doesn't love cooking spaghetti as a quick, easy dinner?


First I took the chicken and cut it up into bite sized pieces. I took out a large pan and added some olive oil to heat up. I added the chicken and jalapeno and let it brown. Next I added some white wine and allowed it to reduce for a little bit. Next came in the can of crushed tomatoes, some salt and other seasonings like pepper and oregano. While all of the chicken, flavors and tomatoes where cooking together I boiled a pot of water and then added my Barilla® spaghetti to cook. Once the spaghetti was cooked I drained it and added it to the spicy chicken tomato sauce and let it mix and cook together for a couple of minutes.  Lastly I drizzled in some olive oil and added some Cotija cheese.


It was nice to not have to be in a hot kitchen for a long time or even turn on the oven. I got to sit and chat and laugh with my mom and sister and dinner was ready in less than half an hour.


Barilla® Spaghetti with Chicken and Spicy Tomato Sauce (printable recipe)

• 1 box Barilla® Spaghetti
• 4 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 chicken thighs, boneless, diced into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 tblsp fresh oregano, leaves only (I used 1 tsp dried)
• 1 jalapeno pepper, or to taste
• 1/2 cup white wine, dry
• 2 pounds plum tomatoes, crushed (I used a can of crushed tomatoes)
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 cup Cotija cheese

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Barilla. The opinions and text are all mine.