Saying Goodbye to 2013

Hello, everyone! I hope that you all had an amazing holiday season and I wish you all a very Happy New Year! I really cannot believe that it is already 2014. I feel like the past couple months and the holiday season in general came and went in the blink of an eye. I thought I would stop by to share a few of our special holiday moments with you as we say goodbye to another wonderful year. It was truly a memorable one as we moved into our dream home, started new jobs, and celebrated another year of wonderful milestones with our little ones. We are so thankful for all of it and we are so excited to see all that lies ahead.

I'm definitely doing a little backtracking here. This is compilation of a couple different posts I never got to over break starting with how we decorated for the holidays. We kept the holiday decor rather simple for our first Christmas in the new house. We stuck with our tradition of getting a real tree. I once again lost the debate of white vs. colored lights with Aaron and Audrey. Oh well, maybe next year I will convince them that white is the way to go.

I did, however, make a fun little garland for the mantle out of some white snowflake lights that I found on clearance at Target along with some fabric scraps. I love it so much that it will probably be considered "winter" decor instead of just Christmas decor so I can keep it around for a few more weeks.





A few simple changes to the entryway table helped complete our holiday look. I told you it was simple!

For our gifts this year I used my absolute favorite polka-dot craft paper from Target, some black plaid paper from Marshalls, and red and white chevron from Hobby Lobby. We topped our gifts off this year with either green pom-pom garland, simple strings of yarn,  or giant poms that we made ourselves.

 

Now, sit back, and enjoy some of our favorite pictures of Audrey and Will. They really do make the holidays so exciting. I love the joy they bring to our lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aren't they the sweetest? I know I have to say that but they really are the most amazing people. Doesn't Audrey look so grown up? And, Will has been seriously cracking up with his animated conversations. It was a truly special Christmas and I hope you and your family made just as many wonderful memories.

 

As for the new year, I have a list of goals (dare I say resolutions) a mile long. One of those goals is to rededicate myself to unfinished projects around the house and to the blog, of course. I do love writing and sharing and I want to get back to doing that more consistently. How about you? What are some of your favorite holiday memories? And, what are some of your goals for 2014?

 

 

Pin It

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...Fall!

Aren't you glad that I didn't say Christmas? I don't know about you but I prefer to live one season, one holiday at a time. It pains me to see all the stores decked out with Christmas decor already. Especially since I am just now getting around to adding some autumn touches to our home.

 

The other day, I took the kids to the park to go on a leaf/pine cone hunt.We spent that evening getting our craft on with our new found treasures. We decided to simply add some paint to the tips of the pine cones and to the veins of the leaves. We chose a color palette of gold, white, and mint green but Audrey insisted we add some pink, too.

 

 

Pretty, huh?

 

 

We didn't stop there! We tied the pine cones together with string and hung them on the front door, which by the way is finally painted! Thank you, Dad!!! 

 

 

I hot glued the leaves to the same string and hung them from the mantle in the living room.

 

 

I just love it! And, it was pretty much the easiest project ever!

 

 

As you can see, I added a few other fall touches to the fireplace area. I switched the photos in the frames from some summer pics to these. I can't believe how small Will looks in these pictures. It was just a year ago!

 

 

I also filled a decorative box with some dried plants that I picked up in Hobby Lobby's floral area.

 

 By far my favorite Fall-themed thing happening in our house right now is this white pumpkin that I Sharpied. Yes, I used a Sharpie marker to color each of those black triangles. I was so consumed by my coloring that I didn't even think to take pictures of the process. Just know that I went through about three markers doing this. So, I probably should have just painted them but, hey, you live and learn! If this area of our house seems unfamiliar to you, it's because I have a little revealing to catch up on. Stay tuned for that!

 

 

 

 I love this time of year and all these little touches really help bring the outdoors in. If you need me, you can find me curled up on the couch cuddling with the kids or with a cup coffee in hand especially now that cool weather has officially make its appearance around here.

 

 

 

Pin It

Getting Festive for the 4th of July

Nothing says summer like the 4th of July. This holiday is a big deal around here. Every year, my mother and father-in-law have a party complete with the best firework show in town (I may be biased but its true). My two cuties are all ready to celebrate. We begin our celebration the day before in case you were wondering why I have them dressed a day in advance. Don't you just love Will's expression? I have to act like a complete fool to get both of my kids to look at the camera and smile. Well, it works for Audrey and Will gives me a look like "Who are you and what did you do with my mom?"Can we talk about their shirts, please? Cute, huh? I wish I could take credit for them but I can not. A good friend snatched this idea from Pinterest and let my kids join in the fun the last time we were at their house. It's so simple! Just use fabric paint to do your child's handprint and paint some stripes (don't count my stripes b/c I wasn't keeping track). So festive!

 

And, it wouldn't be a 4th of July party with out some amazing summer dishes. I decided this year that I wanted to try some new things so I scoured my recipe pin board and this is what I came up with. I linked the recipe for each one if you want to give it a try.

 

Lemonade Cake

 

This looks and smells amazing. I haven't actually tried it, yet, other than to sample the batter so I can't speak to the tastiness. I'll have to let you know...

 

Recipe can be found at http://www.bhg.com/recipe/lemonade-cake/



Tortellini Pasta Salad

I usually always make a pasta salad but I thought this would be a nice change of pace for me. I used fresh mozzarella for the the cheese. I did test this one and it is very good. My usual dressing calls for sugar so I'm missing the sweetness but it's nice to have something different (plus, it's probably healthier).



Recipe can be found at http://www.peasandcrayons.com/2013/03/tortellini-pasta-salad.html

 

Strawberry Kabobs

 

This is by far my favorite and it was the simplest. I opted to use popsicle sticks rather than skewers to make these a little more kid-friendly and to make smaller portions. Audrey lended a hand with these bad boys. We drizzled them with melted white chocolate and used blue sprinkles to make them patriotic. They are amazing!

 

 

Recipe can be found at http://onederlandorbust.net/2013/05/13/strawberry-shortcake-kabobs/



I hope that you all have a safe and wonderful holiday! Pin It

A Few Snippets of Love

REMINDER: My Valentine's Day Giveaway ends tonight at 10:00. If you still want to enter for a chance to win a pair of earrings, follow the link to that post and leave a comment at the bottom. I know some of you have had problems leaving comments with your phones. Sorry about that! I don't know why that is happening but if you use a computer it should work just fine. Good luck!

 

I know that Valentine's Day is now behind us but like my daughter said, "It will be here again next year, won't it?" So, I thought I would quickly share a few snippets of our DIY Valentine creations that you could file away until next year. Or, some of these ideas would be perfect gifts for Easter, Mother's Day, or "just because."

 

Audrey and I both made paint chip bookmarks as our valentines this year. She decorated hers with stickers for her friends and classmates. On the back we put a label where she wrote her name.

I decided to add my studnets' first initials with a fun font. These were so easy and inexpensive and I know that many of my students were excited to receive one.

 

Audrey made these clothespin candle holders as gifts, as well. We cleaned out a small tuna can, which she attached the clothespins to. Then she painted them and we added a little heart border all the way around. We put candles in ours but they could easily hold a small plant or a treat bag.

 

 

We also did a little card making...

 

 

Last but not least, I made these notebooks for the kids. Can I just tell you that I love writing and I also happen to love notebooks. I have always played around with the idea of having a back and forth notebook between me and my children. A place to write letters and leave messages to one another. I know that Will's will be a little one-sided, at first, but hopefully he will one day cherish the words that we write to him as a baby. I thought it would be fun for the cover of the notebook to be a chalkboard. The easiest thing to have done would have been to find chalkboard contact paper but I could find any and didn't feel like going to a bunch of different stores. I had some chalkboard paint so I just went that route. Here is how they turned out...

 

 

So, there you have it. A few gift ideas for the special people in your life. I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Have a great weekend!

 

Pin It

Welcome 2013!

 

I thought I would ring in the new year with you by sharing a project that I did over a month ago. I got a little antsy over Thanksgiving break and decided that I really needed to have a large chalkboard in our kitchen. We have had this wooden cabinet for years and it has served as our pantry. It's worked out pretty well but pretty on the eyes, it is not. I didn't take a proper before picture but here are the doors out on the lawn getting ready to be painted.

 

I think you get the idea...tall cabinet, two doors, five shelves inside. The plan was to paint the entire cabinet but I ran out of light and time over Thanksgiving. And, did you know that it takes forever for paint to dry when it's cold? So, I only managed to paint the doors but it has served the purpose so far.

On the inside, I have a place to write our weekly menu. Can I be honest and tell you this is the first and last menu that I have written on here. I really need to be better about that. Maybe I can add that to my list of New Year's resolutions.

 

Throughout the holiday season we kept a running list of people we were shopping for. Audrey made her own list on the left. Awww!

 

Since I never do a project without thinking about how it will be used in our new  house, I think this cabinet will become storage for our games and puzzles ( I will actually have a proper pantry in the new place. Yay!). It will most likely live in the basement but, who knows, if I actually finish painting her and add some new hardware she might look fab in the kid's playroom.

 

We have definitely been blessed in 2012! A new baby, a new house, the list goes on and on. I wish you and your family an amazing 2013!

Pin It

Secret Santa Gift Ideas

**I know I promised to share a few more details of Audrey's Hello Kitty birthday party that took place over the weekend. Unfortunately, I don't have access to all my pics right now so I'll have to keep you in suspense for a couple more days.**

Until then, allow me to share my gift ideas for our annual Secret Santa gift exchange that we do at school. It is always so much fun and this year has been no exception. We exchange three small gifts and  one larger gift on the last day. The idea is to keep the smaller gifts under $5.00, which isn't always easy. So, I thought I'd share what I came up with this year just in case you're in need of some inexpensive ideas for a friend, a co-worker, babysitter, volunteer, teacher, bus driver, or anyone else on your shopping list.

I began Secret Santa week by giving this lantern from Ikea filled with red tea lights. It has such a festive feel to it but it can definitely be used throughout the year.


My next gift was a cute glass magnet set that I found at Home Goods and I wrapped in a holiday hand towel. I didn't snap a picture of them but they looked something like this. I know I would love to hang them on my fridge!

 

 

For my third gift, I decided to get my craft on. I happen to be a little obsessed with making coaster sets. They are soooo easy to make and they turn out really cute. In the past, I've made them for Audrey's teachers and as hostess gifts. I found the tiles for about 20 cents a piece at our local Habitat for Humanity Restore. Then, I just purchased some scrapbook paper and used Mod Podge to adhere the paper to the tiles. I added some felt pads to the back to give it a finished feel and tied them together with a bow.

 

 

Last but not least, I found this adorable dragon tree and pot from Ikea (my go-to spot for fun gifts for sure). My person indicated that she has a thing for dachshunds so I decided to personalize the pot a little by adding a  dachshund silhouette. I simply printed off a picture from Google Images and mod podged it on. I rounded it off with a gift card to TJ Maxx because who doesn't love to shop at TJ Maxx?  

 

 

 

And, there you have it! A few inexpensive gift ideas that you still have time to give. Now to figure out what to get everybody else on my shopping list this year. Happy gifting!

Pin It

Advent Calendar

I guess I'm a couple of days behind with this post but I thought I would share the advent calendar that we put together this year. We love Christmas around here and counting down the days is always very exciting for us. Because not only does it mean that Santa is coming, it also means that we get to spend more time together as a family.

I decided on a tree theme for our calendar and began by gathering a few supplies, such as, twine, festive scrapbook paper, and clothespins.

 

I cut the twine into strips and nailed them to the wall. Obviously, I'm not worried about putting a bunch of nail holes in the wall. If you are concerned about that you could always attach it to a separate board or just use tape or 3M hooks.

 

 

Then, I cut the scrapbook paper into different shapes and hung each piece on clothespins to serve as the ornaments.

 

 

 

Starting at the bottom, I wrote the number for each day of December up to the 24th.

 

I wanted something special for Christmas Day so I had Audrey paint this star onto a square canvas that I happened to have on hand. The scale is a little off but Audrey is very proud of her star and I really like it, too.

 

On the back of each number there is a special event or activity written. Each day, we turn the day over and then we turn it back the following day.

 

 

 I wanted to incorporate a variety of things to do as we countdown to Christmas. I haven't planned out all 24 days because it's hard to be tied to things around here. So, I am adding some things as we go. So far, our list includes things, such as:

• Have breakfast with Santa
• Make a Christmas wish list
• Find Santa's elf hiding in the house
• Read a Christmas bedtime story
• Make a shopping list for people we want to buy gifts for
• Celebrate Audrey's birthday
• Get a Christmas tree and decorate
• Deliver meals to a needy family
• Donate things to the giving tree
• Bake Christmas goodies
• Christmas movie night
• Go on a drive to look at lights
• Go ice skating

 We are really enjoying our Advent tree! Audrey is excited because she is ready to make it to the star and enjoy her favorite day of the year. Our countdown has officially begun!

What are some of  your favorite traditions leading up to Christmas? Do you have any great ideas that I should add to our list?

 

Pin It