January 27, 2012

Our Valentine {Mantle?}

Happy Friday. 

I love the weekend. More time with the hubbs. ;)

Oh... and today I did some fun stuff. I love to decorate for each holiday. And usually Valentine's Day seems to be the hardest for me. I feel like it's easy to decorate, but I feel it can be tacky more easily than not. haha. Ya, I'm one of those. This year I decided to get crafty and gather all the pink/red I have around the house and create a Valentine's {mantle?} Well, we don't have a mantle. AND, I had to decorate somewhere the kids couldn't get to easyily. Or at all. 

So here is our {mantle}. =)

 (one of the first Willow Tree Angels I got)

 (even our "fishie" got in on it)

(one ikea frame & a few cut out hearts)

 (gatta love a free church family photo!)


Sorry no "before" photo. Just think... nothing. There really wasn't much up there to start. And sorry no distant photo, it never looked clear enough to show on the blog, sorry!

Oh... the hubbs got me these. I'm a huge sucker for fresh flowers. As long as they don't cost 80 bucks. Aren't they gorgeous? And they bring a smile to my face thinking about how close Spring is. Only 2 more months. That's close right ;)



Now I need to figure out what kind of Valentine Cards for the kids (or prob just Ashlyn) to hand out. They have to be practical and cheap. If you have any ideas, let me know. =)


Fun Stuff Fridays

January 25, 2012

First Birthdays.

Since I only started this blog a few months ago I wanted to go back a few years and post what I would have then, a blog on "First Birthdays". Of course back then I wouldn't have known what a First Birthday would be like. Now that we're planning, or I'm doing most of the planning, our little Carter's First Birthday I feel a bit more ready. Of course that doesn't mean I still won't stress a few days before. So maybe it's good I'm starting to dream up the day four months prior. To start I'd like to showcase Ashlyn's First Birthday. I really enjoyed creating this special day. Everything was homemade.

 Enjoy.

Ahh...I can't believe she was that little. (tear*)


 Photo by Amanda. Ahh...I love it!!


Custom bows/clips made by ME. Want one? I can make you one. Just leave me a message. 


Homemade invites. I love the verse.


And no I do not own a circuit or suilouette. I cut those letters out by hand. 


I loved making these cupcakes. I think I'm more of a cupcake girl then a cake girl. Will probably do this for Carter's Birthday too.



Didn't take long. Until it looked like this...


 We counted. Three bites. Doesn't look like it does it?


My favorite photo of the day. 
She was pretty tired through the cake and even through the gifts. But then we took out this and her eyes just lite up. And we got a nice smile from her. Oh the memories...

Now onto Carter. A boy's party needs some masculine colors. A theme. Perhaps..."Mr. Man" or "Little Mister". So here we go with some ideas.







It's a lot of fun to plan a party. Well for me it is. I would love your suggestions. We've only done a girl's party. What should we do at Carter's party that we couldn't do at Ashlyn's?? Fun fun fun! I'm glad most of the cousins are above 2 by then. I'm so having favors!! Any suggestions on homemade ones. See the play dough I have included. I may do homemade play dough. Easy & fun! Think practical.

Only four months to go. haha.



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January 20, 2012

Budgets are our worst and best enemies. Right?

My brain is literally mush right now. I've been going crazy getting the house cleaned and between kids napping, or not napping (they are both napping right now though) I thought I needed a small blogging break to clear things from my head.

I've been trying, not hard enough apparently, to get a good system down for grocery shopping and menu planning. My first step was to get a small "grocery" notebook and write on the left sheet my plan for meals for the week and the right sheet my plan on foods needed to make that happen, plus other groceries we need. That way I could be organized and not buy more than we need each week for food. I've been doing that for a few months now, and it works well. Just not well enough. Our food budget is tight, so I knew I had to be strict. Who knew two little ones could eat so much! Seriously?

Here's a few ideas that have come about in the last week:


The hubbs, Josh, thought we should get an app for our phone, a place we could both record how much we spend on food and it will always keep an updated amount left on our phones. I liked how there are apps that can connect our phones and our budget. Hey there's an app for like everything, why didn't I just look. Glad he saw that option.
One of them is called: iXpenselt 
Anyone use that? Or one similar.


Another idea I saw on PINTEREST was to make lots of meals ahead of time and freeze them, meats and veggies, with seasoning and whatever else is needed, in a freezer bag ready to throw in the crock pot or oven. Genius! There are so many options out there. Just need the time to do it. So I need to look at my time and see what works and what doesn't. Two kids keeps me busy enough.


And also I could use this:

 Which I was just shown today by my bro. And it's made by non other than, DAVE RAMSEY! Haha. Awesome! Any feedback on e-mealz?

So, all in all I think I have a good start. I just need to do a bit more researching, planning, and get the plan going. I'm so thankful to all the resources we have.

How do you plan your weekly meals?


ps. I'll make sure to follow up on how things go. 






January 17, 2012

Pinterest meets Valentine's Day.

Every time I sit down to blog I get so many good ideas on what to write about. I wish I could just write them all down. But I like organization way too much for that. Of course with kids it's usually "organized chaos"though. 

To start I had to post this photo. The other day I went into Carter's room and this is what I was gifted with seeing. Ya, I wanted to just stare at him forever. But sadly I had to wake this little sleepy head up because we had a gym appointment. 


So. Have you noticed that it's less than a month away till Valentine's Day?? I hope you aren't reading this and are one of those who don't like that holiday. If you are, your loss! I know some holidays are hard for some, and I respect that. But if you do like it, like me, then I have a real treat for you. I've been finding lots of fun Valentine's Day stuff on Pinterest. Something about the color PINK and RED together that makes me happy.

Ready to smile. :)


BURLAP NO SEW BANNER

DIY HEART CANDY CENTERPIECE.

RED VELVET WOOPIE PIES

FREE DOWNLOAD (perfect for a frame!)

ETSY VALENTINE WREATH (bet it's not hard to make!)

Something about a little sweetness in the dead of winter. Right? 


*LOVE*

January 13, 2012

Big Girl Room Reveal

I am very happy to bring to you the reveal blog entry!!!

We've been working very HARD on her room this past year. Lots of credit to the hubbs who did all the chair rail and painted the headboard, and putting up the curtain rods. Lots of things I either was nervous doing or really dislike doing. So that made me smile.


Of course what would a reveal be without a BEFORE photo. The room before was much worse than it looks. With a lovely sun/moon border. Yucky white walls, and lots of TLC needed it wasn't a walk in the park getting the room like we wanted. But it's done and I'm VERY happy with how it came out.

See what I mean...ewe!


Thankfully the border came down with great ease!


We did have all the baseboard heating replaced. You'll notice it's a bit different.


And Josh had to hang the closet door. Not an easy job, when the house is old.



Now it looks like this...




Love the little detail. Like the curtain rods. See? (they're butterflies)



Our light switch that doesn't work. haha.


This is how I hung the frames. I first layed the frames on the floor, on the paper, in the way I wanted them. Then marked where I needed to hammer a nail. Then with some painters tape, taped the paper onto the wall. And then hammered in the nails where the I marked. And then ripped the paper off.
 Fairly easy. 


(sorry about the flash, the lighting wasn't good)





You'll notice the canvas doesn't look like {this} anymore. It didn't last long. I guess I didn't factor in a two year old and her enjoyment of fun hanging things. Maybe in a year or so it'll be put back together. Until then I had to at least put the canvas up in her room.


Her doll cradle with "new" bedding. Yay!


This is her headboard before Josh painted it. Not so bad, but it was going to need something. 
So first we spray primed it. Then sprayed painted it the green color it is now. Not real hard.


This is it now =)



Isn't her quilt amazing? It's even quilted, LOVE!




Yes, everything does have a home. I am the queen of baskets & bins ;)


We received a Christmas Gift in the box below. Perfect for her books. =)




And yes she does play in her room and make a mess. I just spiffied it up for the photos. 


{Before} and {After}

      
{Before} and {After}


Here's everything broken up:

Headboard/Bed- $10 at a yard sale (it was painted for about $12 more- spray paints from Home Depot)

Quilt- Hubbs cousin La'Tisha made it. Isn't it gorgeous?

Sheets- $12 from Target (best place to get cute sheets cheap, always look in Clearance)

Curtains- Target 

Curtain Rods- Target

Bedrail: Craigslist- $5!

Two Dressers- My mom's old ones, the sheet in the closet is covering the mirror that goes with the set. Not sure if I'll use it or now. (our next project, PAINT them!)

Pink & Purple Baskets for toys- Target

Play Kitchen- Target

Frames- Assortment of places, Michaels mostly.

Mirror Butterflies on wall- Homegoods

Letter "A"- Michaels (check out how I made it here)

Owl Canvas- Painted by me.

Bulletin Board- we got it when we were married, maybe Walmart (I painted the trim)

Ashlyn Joy sign- Hubbs got it in Panama on a missions trip. Guess the guy is known around the world though. 

Doll Cradle- Made for me by extended family when I was little.

Doll Cradle bedding: My mom!! (mattress, sheets, quilt and pillow)

The Precious Moment doll on dresser was also mine as a little girl. Love to pass down items that were mine as a little girl. 


Feel free to pin anything onto Pinterest. But don't forget to link the photos to my blog.
 Thanks!



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