Titus 2 Work in Progress

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Guest Posting today!

I'm SO excited to be guest posting over at Stardust Decor & Style! I'm sharing how to make a shabby chic layered tablecloth like the one I used for Ellie's party. Please stop by Stardust and let Olga know I sent you. She is such a sweetheart and I know you'll enjoy browsing her blog. {Click here to head on over to Stardust}

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

A Little Somethin' Vintage

I found this vintage spool cotton box in the storage space of our old house and my sweet mother-in-law gave me these lovely spools of thread. Don't ya just love {free} vintage lovelies?!

Sharing this with...
A little inspiration * bear rabbit bear *Bubbly Nature Creations
French Country Cottage * House of Hepworths * I can teach my child
I {heart} naptime *It's Overflowing * Oopsey Daisy * Positively Splendid
Ruby Jean *Six Sisters Stuff * Tatertots and Jello *The Delectable Home
The Girl Creative *The Grant Life *The Southern Institute * Whipperberry

Monday, February 6, 2012

Easy Homemade Baby Food Tips

When Ellie was a baby, I was too busy juggling being a first time mommy and working full time to make homemade baby food. Basically, I was in survival mode! So many aspects of mothering have been easier the second time around. I'm more relaxed and I am blessed to be able to stay home with my girls. Here are some tips for making baby food that I have found helpful.

If possible, use what you have on hand. I get frozen veggies out of my freezer and steam them or microwave them until they are tender. Next, I blend them with a small amount of the cooking liquid until the desired consistency is reached. I've used peas, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, and vegetable blends.

Watch to see what is on sale at your supermarket. On sale, I can get sweet potatoes at about forty cents a pound. Sweet potatoes can be baked until tender in the oven. When HR was just starting on solids, I would blend the sweet potatoes with a little water to thin them out. Now that she is more accustomed to solids, I can just mash the sweet potato with a fork.

After you make your puree, spoon it into ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen, empty ice cube tray into a clear container so you can easily see what food is being stored in the freezer. I try to keep at least two different choices in the freezer. To reheat, I just pull out 1-2 cubes and microwave them in a ramekin for about 20 seconds.

Let me share with you how awesome applesauce is in the baby food making process. To make my baby food stretch farther, I stir in unsweetened natural applesauce. I can do one cube of frozen baby food with one large spoonful of applesauce and it equals about one jar of baby food! It also does a few other things - it can help thicken watered down baby food and it can help thin out baby food that is too thick. How does it do both? I don't know but it is my solution for both. Ha! It also provides a fruit component when the puree is a veggie.

Eventually, I started adding in table food. HR has had pureed chicken and dumplings, macaroni and ham chowder, spaghetti, and chicken pasta bake to date. A few times HR has shown dislike for a flavor or texture blend. Can you guess what I did? Add applesauce! It works, really :)

This is getting longer than I thought. I better close for now and I'll share more soon. I hope you are still awake. You are still awake, aren't you?

***Here's a link to {part 2} which includes a recipe for homemade baby cereal

Sharing this with...
A little inspiration * bear rabbit bear *Bubbly Nature Creations
French Country Cottage *Home Stories A to Z * House of Hepworths
I can teach my child *I {heart} naptime *It's Overflowing * Oopsey Daisy
Positively Splendid *Ruby Jean *Six Sisters Stuff * Tatertots and Jello
The Delectable Home * The Girl Creative *The Grant Life
The Southern Institute * Whipperberry

Saturday, February 4, 2012

The Birthday Blessing

Last year, I shared how I used the principles of Gary Smalley's book The Blessing to honor my husband on our anniversary {click here for a recap}. Smalley also stresses the value and importance of blessing our children. This basic idea is that the child experiences elements of a blessing from the parents. It may happen any number of times a year. With my girls still being young, I haven't implemented this concept as much as I hope to in the future.

At Ellie's recent Whimsical Fairy Party, I invited individuals that have played an important role in her life. Most of these fall into the step-in grandparent role since our family is so far away. These are the people near and dear to our hearts who have made room in their own hearts for our sweet girl. Therefore, my favorite party of Ellie's birthday is the personal blessings we video record from each of our honored guests. Some of our guests recorded their third video birthday blessing for Ellie this year! We enjoy watching these after the party with Ellie and hope she will appreciate them for years to come.

Here is an example program including some of the ways I have shared with my daughter Ellie the love and value I have for her and others I plan to use:

Praying together for her future
Count down the days to the party - half the fun for a child is in the anticipation
Ask her what food she would like for her special day
Make her a homemade gift
Bless her with a spoken message using various elements

Putting together a slideshow including pictures for each year of her life
List several specific things that each parent appreciated about her over the past year
Explain how certain character traits will help her become a godly or loving person in the future. {Basically, give her the blessing of hope for the future. For example: "You are such a good helper with baby sister. Someday you are going to be a great mommy.")

Write out her birth story starting with the nine months before birth, trip to the hospital and the joy experienced when holding her for the first time.

I hope this gives you some ideas for blessing your children. Would you share your ideas too?

Friday, February 3, 2012

A Fairy in a Tutu

I purchased the following for Ellie's party from Halo Heaven:
Peach ballet tutu: $2.50
Peach and cream fairy ribbon wand: $0.90
Peach pixie wings: $1.70

For more details on the Whimsical Fairy Party, go here.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Valentine Mailboxes

I'm getting out our Valentine decor to enjoy for the next two weeks so I thought I'd snap a few pics of our heart mailboxes. You have probably already seen these little mailboxes for sale at Target in the dollar bins. They carry them every year around Valentine's day. I'm on the lookout for some new ideas and uses for them. I'd love for you to share your own ideas or links to inspiration :)

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Faith, trust and pixie dust

If you read my initial post of Ellie's Whimsical Fairy party, this is meant to act as a follow-up with more details. Now that I have had a chance to recover. Whew!

Here is the set up of the tables. I got the turquoise paper plates and pink polka dot napkins from Target. I snatched them up right away!

I used miniature glass vases filled with pixie dust (a.k.a. glitter!) and fairy wands I saw over at Icing Designs.

The party favors were these simple vintage pink roses. Can you believe they are soap? Yep, just pull off a petal and add water! Wouldn't they be perfect in a guest bathroom? Or even better, a bed and breakfast. And you can get this same romantic charm at, you guessed it, Dollar Tree!

I just happened to stumble upon these mercury glass candlesticks at World Market. They were in the Christmas clearance and I scored them for $1 each.

I ordered my straws from Jilly Bean Kids.

I spotted strawberry malt balls at Walmart a day or so before the party (probably seasonal?). My mom had just given me these vintage sundae dishes and I thought they were perfect for putting on the tables.

I printed placemats on cardstock. And if you would like to use or edit it, you can download it here. I was inspired by Martha Stewart's placemat/name card combo.

Since the whole fairy theme was based on Ellie's love for Tinkerbell, it was only fitting that she make an appearance. Ellie would have loved the beautiful jars that inspired me over at Heidi Swap's Sprinkle it with Fabulous.

I dipped some strawberry wafers in white chocolate after seeing them on Art Mom's blog. And I made a "Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust" printable for the table which you can also download here.

I really do have more to share BUT I have got to call it a night! Please feel free to leave a comment below or email me privately if you have any questions. More of my inspiration for this party can be found on my Fairy Party board on Pinterest. Nighty night :)

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Twelve Months of the Gift of Romance: January

I can't believe today is the last day of January! I just barely squeezed in the first installment of Cindy Colley's Twelve Months of the Gift of Romance. I shared this idea last month on my Facebook page. Are any of you committing to this idea for your spouse? I can be such a slacker as a wife and I hope this will help me remember to do something extra special each month for my sweetie.

If you'd like the recipe for this delicious white chocolate mocha, you can find it here. Enjoy :)

If you plan to commit to this 12 month challenge, message me and let me know. I'd love to hear your stories and ideas. If you take any pictures, please let me know so we can share them with our little blog community.

Sharing this with...
A little inspiration * bear rabbit bear *Bubbly Nature Creations
French Country Cottage * House of Hepworths * I can teach my child
I {heart} naptime *It's Overflowing * Oopsey Daisy * Positively Splendid
Ruby Jean *Six Sisters Stuff * Tatertots and Jello *The Girl Creative *
The Grant Life *The Southern Institute * Whipperberry