Ready for Valentine's Day!

I think we are finally decorated for Valentine's Day. Let me give you a look around.

Pink and red tissue paper pom-poms on a string of cotton candy pink bakers twine.

Clothespins hold the felt hearts in place. 

Our mailboxes hold valentines for each family member but are not to be opened until February 14th!

I found this canvas on clearance at Hobby Lobby after Valentine's day three years ago. I used it to keepsake my now three year old's handprint. Precious :)

I guess this is as close as I'll get to a mantel display since I don't have a fireplace!

My jars wrapped in twine had to make an appearance.

Do you see that lovely silver vase? I bought it at Goodwill this week for $2! It was pretty tarnished but I polished it up with a little baking soda and water. It looks as good as new now.

This is my favorite of all the valentine printables floating around online. You can download it at The Bonjour Family.

 I still can't believe that I snatched up these mercury glass candlesticks for a buck a piece at World Market!

A few more pretties on my shelf. Including a free printable from Oopsey Daisy.

A friend gave me this lovely piece. I had to hang it up and leave the unfinished edges exposed.
There's more but that's enough pictures for now. Are you ready for Valentine's Day?!

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

Valentine Crafts

Have I told you that Valentine's Day is my FAVORITE holiday?! My love started as a little girl. I would wake up Valentine's morning to a trail of footprints. Following the footprints throughout the house, I would find lovely surprises along the way - balloons, chocolates and confetti. At the end of the trail I would find Valentine cards, my mom's delicious heart cookies and even presents! I declared to my parents that the  footprints were from the Valentine Bear and he has visited our house ever since!

It is fitting that my mother-in-law found this book for the girls :)

Here are some crafts that Ellie and I have been working on for Valentine's day:

I found these ideas at Meet the Dubiens and Crafty Nature.

I used a free printable from My Sister's Suitcase, to make the hubby's gift. Shh! Don't tell him ;)

You can find the instructions for these cute heart doily shirts at The Artful Parent.

 What projects are you working on?

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

A Birthday Banner

Now that the party is done, I have time to share some of the projects I've been working on. My favorite is this birthday banner I made for Ellie's party.

I went to Hobby Lobby and picked out two coordinating scrapbook patterns that I liked - a pink polka dot and a pale blue stripe. I also grabbed a pack of kraft cardstock. The cardstock keeps the banner from being too flimsy and will allow the banner to be used over and over again. 

Next, I cut out three oval shapes for each letter (yeah, this step could be a lot easier if you have a fancy craft cutting machine like Cameo or Cricut!). I made this template which you can download and adjust the print size to your project.  The font I used is called BB Petie Boy Medium  and can be downloaded here for free! Doesn't it look like the letters are stamped on the cardstock? I used font size 150 for my banner. {Side note: Did you notice that the "H" is upside down? Neither did I until I glued them. I think I like it better this way. Or at least that is what I'm telling myself.}

After tracing all my ovals and carefully cutting them out, I used a glue stick to compose the different layers. 

To hang the banner, I used mini clothespins and pink cotton candy twine. 

Whatcha think? It may not be perfect to the eye, but it is perfect to me :) I love it and look forward to using it again.

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

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}

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

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

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?

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

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.