Thanksgiving #20

I am soo bummed, I forgot to order these and now it's too late for this year. But I am still sharing because I hope I remember them for next year!! They are FAKE wishbones! It is such a cute idea, would be cute as a napkin holder or they sell them in bulk you could just scatter a few on the table!

source

Yay for the weekend!!

Continue Reading ...

Thanksgiving #19

~Bread Cornucopia~

These have been all over blog land lately, for good reason! They are adorable and a super neat idea!!

First saw these on Taste of Home

source

 

And since I usually think about doing things kids sized I looked for mini ones, Edible Crafts covered those! So cute too!

 

source

I really can't believe it is less than a week until Thanksgiving! I am avoiding the grocery store this weekend!!



Continue Reading ...

Butterbeer Cupcakes!!

Had these been posted 1 day earlier I would have made a batch for the kids, since today is HP7 Day!!

They are excited, not for HP, but to spend the night at Grandma and Poppops!

These were shared on Squirrel Bakes today!

Aren't they adorable?! And SUCH a good idea!

Squirrel Bakes has lots of great stuff, go check her out!!

Continue Reading ...

Thanksgiving #18 Pie cuteness!

Posting a day early since tomorrow is busy busy and I don't want to miss a day!
Yesterday I shared my favorite holiday dessert recipe. I think it's my favorite because I haven't really tried to make pies much.. I think they could easily be my favorite! One thing I like about them is how cute and themed you can make them without any extra ingredients! Check out all these cute different pie crusts. I think the extra effort on some of these makes a huge difference!

These 2 are from Country Living

This whole collection is from Martha Stewart!

Home Made Simple did these different leaves all on 1 pie!



I LOVE this braided one

source



This one is just too sweet!!

source

And check out these little crust cutters, with extra detail! From Williams Sanoma, they would make the cutting part much easier!



Continue Reading ...

Thanksgiving #17, White Salad Recipe

First I will say, I have NO idea why this is called salad!

My Great Grandma used to make this recipe, I made it for the first time a few weeks ago, to make sure I didn't really mess it up. I am bringing it to the family Thanksgiving get together. That's the only time we ever had it was the holidays. Kinda nervous, but the first attempt went better than I expected!

Ingredients

4 small boxes of lemon Jello

4 cups Boiling water

1 20oz can crushed pineapple and juice

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

1 8oz package of cream cheese at room temp.

3/4 C of milk

1 C chopped pecans (or walnuts)

1 8 oz container of cool whip, thawed

2 oz pimentos (which I would, and do leave out, eww)

You need a big dish, I used a 9x13 Glass baking dish and it was almost too small, you could use 2 of those or 1 and a smaller one also.

Leave the cream cheese out so it can come to room temp, and I put the cool whip and pineapple in the fridge the night before.

~Boil 4 Cups of water

~empty the 4 Jello packages into a big bowl (Pyrex or another that won't shatter from hot and cold temps)

stir until the jello is dissolved.

~Add the can of pineapple and juice
~Add lemon zest and lemon juice

~Put jello mix in the fridge until it cools but not set, you want it to stay liquid at this point

~While it is cooling, combine your room temperature cream cheese and 3/4C milk until smooth (mine took about 2 minutes in mixer at med-high speed)

~Add cream cheese mix to jello, mix well and then pour into your dish

~Refrigerate for about 30 minutes

~While it is chilling combine your pecans, pimento's (if you use them) and cool whip

~Gently fold the cool whip mixture into the jello cream cheese mixture and let refrigerate an hour

That's it! It's not terribly difficult just time between each step!



Continue Reading ...

Thanksgiving #16

I had intention to NOT show anymore kid stuff, but it's all so cute!

 Like these little Turkey'd up mini pies!

Our kids would LOVE this, and it is kinda funny!

And another snack and craft all in one!



Continue Reading ...

~Saving Money~

The new year is fast approaching..  and I am NOT ready! One of our goals for the year is reducing/eliminating our debt. We have been following the Dave Ramsey plan (although I haven't been very good lately) and it is working, slowly but surely. We could probably do it a little faster if I were working outside the home, but neither my husband or I think putting the kids in daycare for me to work is worth the financial benefit and the loss of being with the kids all day would be very hard on all of us, just not worth it right now.  So I do my best to save in ways I can, and no not just clipping coupons! Thought I would share them over the next couple weeks as some of us prep for new years resolutions! I've posted about some of those ways before but some are new and I don't want anyone to miss the old ones either!

So I'll start with the first way I started making a change at home to save money. It was Homemade Laundry Soap, that was my first time making it and I messed it up so it doesn't look right. That was almost 2 years ago and I have only had to make 1 batch since and that was just recently. I think that the 10 Gallons lasts me about 18 months!! Which is amazing considering the cost for making it the first time was

Bucket $6 (I think), Zote Soap $1, Washing Soda $3, Borax $3

Total of $13 for the first time supplies (the borax, washing soda and bucket will be re-used) I try to gage a savings by per use, per pound or ounce, whatever I can break it down to. I do an average of 5 loads a week for 18 months is about 78 weeks, 78 weeks worth of loads is 390 loads!! Compared to the tide HE, Free and clear that gets 64 loads for $14. The price per load for tide is about 22 cents a load. For the homemade (also for the He and unscented) is 3 cents per load, the first batch! The second batch when you don't have to buy the bucket or washing soda or borax is only an extra dollar for zote, the price for those loads is less then a penny per load!

I figured the 3 year savings (2 batches) is HUGE since the average is just over a penny per load. If I used tide for those 780 loads in 3 years it would have cost us $171!! I could easily pay off my Gymboree credit card with that! So even though it was really a very small change for us, over time it will REALLY save, and it requires no more effort than loading the tide bottle in and out of the grocery cart and car every month. 

The recipe is on the original post, but remember I messed it up, so yours SHOULDN'T look like that, It should look like this!

Continue Reading ...

Thanksgiving #15 Boys cuteness

Girls have a lot more choices for accessories but there are still some cute boy ones too.. like this built in tie!

Or just a bow tie! I don't think I could get our little one to leave it alone, but I can probably get our big boy wear one!

This hat is awfully cute too!

And this one is hilarious!!

All pictures are links to their source!

Continue Reading ...

Finally the Matilda Jane inspired something!

I hoped to have it finished a long time ago, but with a few kids that have been skipping naps it just took a little  lot longer to finish!

My Mother in law painted this little table and chairs for the kids a few years ago, and it was looking a little beat up, pencil and crayon marks (that the magic eraser couldn't get off), gouges from toys and dents from being run into with hot wheels! It just needed some help! Hubby sanded it down a little to try and get some of the dings and dents out and then I started painting, it took TONS of coats, and now that it is inside again, I see a few spots I missed, but I have more plans for it, so I will catch the misses spots when I do the next thing!

I didn't take any before pictures, should have, but I forget. When I start a project I am too antsy to get started and often forget the before shots!

What made me decide to paint it black?! All of our other furniture is black. How did I decide on the wording on the skirt? THAT is where my favorite Maggie Stew from Matilda Jane Clothing comes in! The dress is the first MJ I ever bought, I fell in LOVE with the ribbon along the bottom hem.

Here is the dress

via MatildajaneClothing.com

The pink ribbon towards the bottom!  It says "Fall asleep with a smile for the moon. Wake up Happy, Play Fair, Be a good friend, Read Books"

Yeah I LOVE that! I think those are all great things for little girls (and boys) to practice!

Finnley is already trying to climb up (not sure he is ready for that though!)

The thing that ISN'T done, is the top.. it's been painted and all that, but it needs something else!

See, kinda boring huh?  I am pretty sure I am going to do a design on the top in CHALKBOARD paint, since I already have it!  Just need to figure out how to get the design on first!

And I need to do a couple more chairs since we have 3 kids and 1 other little sweet pea that is here a few days a week!

All I did on the table and chairs, was paint it black, paint it black, paint it black. Then I used the cricut to cut the words out and I modge podge'd em on!

The kids are excited to have their little table back and I am excited to have our table back without crayon shavings or stickers on it!

Linking this post up here

Continue Reading ...

Our Fall/Thanksgiving decorations

Are limited, we just don't have much, not that there aren't some cute things out there, just haven't found much that is very "us" yet!

The eat in area lighting, kinda miss the skulls already, just some Real Deals clearance berries and a glittery bird.

I love feathers, and wreaths.. so that mix is allover around here, this might be my favorite one though

I have no idea how to take a picture of this without the glare, but it is some balls made out of pine cones, jute, and some leaves, another Real Deals find. On top is a little squirrel. Along with a glittery pumpkin and a Dollar Tree vase wrapped in a sweater (idea from Under the Table and Dreaming)



And when I was taking these pictures, I had a little helper

Love his little mischievous smile!

And I have a few random little fall birds and pumpkins all over like these

This sweet pillow is from Terry's Village, and I love the giant acorn in the cloche, also Real Deals!

And a mish mosh of stuff in these ones

And in case there was ever a doubt if we really "lived" in our house

the lone cheerio says it all, there is usually a cheerio or 2    30 on the floor or the table. I wanted to show off the cute little owl bowl and the woolly mushroom and acorn but the kids got to them first!







Continue Reading ...

Thanksgiving Accessories "girl style" #14

Thanksgiving Accessories

I have issues with hair accessories and bracelets! I have a hard time sticking to just 1 or 2 bows per outfit.. I already shared the PIE clippie, but ETSY has hundreds and hundreds of way cute ones! These were my favorite's.. but I am being good, I already made her the pie and a turkey headband.. tempted but being good!

is way cute, love the monogram, and could be used for Halloween too!

OH the cuteness of this one!! And one of my favorite etsy shops, we have a few from them and the quality is amazing!

This little pair is adorable, would be awefully cute on a pair of pig tails!

I love the sweet little writing on these!

I also have a small huge love for bracelets that match and are unique or one of a kind.. our little smooshy loves to wear them, some days it's an all out fit if she doesn't have one on!

Now these can get expensive but worth the occasional splurge!

The other thing I like is buying 1 bracelet and multiple exchangeable charms.. charms like these

All sources are linked right to the pictures if you see something you love!

Tomorrow some boy stuff!

Continue Reading ...