Valentines Day 2013

See these two? What a pair! The best of friends and sometimes the worst of enemies. It really is my hope that they'll be close for the rest of their lives. Maybe not always friends, but comfortable and loving toward each other. There is nothing sweeter than the love and support of a sister. 

Above are the heart puppets we made the week leading up to Valentine's Day. Below is what our table looks like OFTEN. Always covered in paper and stickers. My girls love nothing more than to create and Valentine's Day is the perfect holiday for fun paper crafts.

Below is a quick snap shot of the breakfast room set up their Daddy created for his girls. He's loving and thoughtful, everyday, but especially on Valentine's Day. His love for them, makes me love him even more.

Marin's First Story Book

Marvelous Master Bath {Before & After}

Posting these before and after pictures makes this project seem so condensed and easy. Ha! Before you start getting any crazy ideas about how FAST we are, let me just tell you that this was YEARS of work and patience. It's the in between photos that really show the work and money and time. Sadly I didn't do as well as I thought documenting the between stages. And well, frankly that's just not as exciting as simply comparing before and after photos

To get an idea of how much work went into this little corner click here.

See post about the custom medicine cabinets here.

And a post about the faucets we cleaned and had re chromed here.

Here is the first post about the tub and sinks being redone. 

A post about painting the floor (the first time).

This post about the shower install.

I'm tired just looking at all the work that went into this bathroom. But goodness it's lovely and I seriously feel like I LIVE in a bed and breakfast!

You are My Sunshine Birthday Brunch

 A friend and I created this sun made from balloons for her daughters' 1st birthday party. It was a "You are My Sunshine" themed brunch. The balloons were attached to the wall with tacks and the rays were made from yellow paper chains. The hearts were made of felt and sewn together using a sewing machine. We set it all up the night before and it still looked great the next morning.

Pregnancy Mad Gab {Baby Shower Game}

I recently hosted a baby shower for my sister. It was an "I Love You {Eeehoo*}" themed shower. My sister has creative hearing and it's something we love about her and we often times get tickled at what she THINKS she hears. So, what better than a round of Pregnancy Mad Gab?! My mom went through our Mad Gab game and pulled out any phrases that were pregnancy, labor or birth related. Below is a list of the phrases we chose for the shower. I was a really fun ice breaker and I was pleased at how interactive the girls were, plus, we giggled a lot (and that's what shower games are meant to do, right?).

(*Eeehoo is how my sister said "I Love You" when she was a toddler.)

Long overdue

Lawn Gopher Do

It gets worse and worse

Hick Hits Worsen Whirs

Wholesome ingredients

Hole Summon Greedy Hence

I need a laxative

Eye Needle Ax Eight If

A mini-van

Aim Any Fan

On a scale from one to ten

Onus Gale Firm Won Toot Hen

It’s Heaven sent

Hi Seven Cent

How sweet the sound

House Wheat This Hound

Did you hear the news?

Chew Ear Think Ooze

A great recovery

Ache Ray Tree Cover He

Peace and quiet

Pea Sank White

More than I can stand

Mower Thin Hike Handstand

A sleepless night

Ace Leap Lesson height

A labor of love

L.A. Burr Oval of

Change of clothes

Chain Chuckle Owes

High fiber diet

Hi-fi bird High Yet

I Love You Baby Shower {Eeehoo}

My sister is having her first baby and on Sunday we celebrated with a shower. What a wonderful day we had celebrating her path to motherhood. I tried to think of ways to really personalize the party, starting with the theme which was "I Love You!" or "Eeehoo!" which is how Elizabeth said "I love you" when she was a toddler. She loves bright colors and tulips. So, pulling inspiration from the anticipated arrival of spring and the holiday that screams I love you, Valentines day, we created this super bright, cheerful, pleasant party that couldn't have reflected my beautiful, sweet, happy sister any better. 

The invitation is a recreation of this invitation design I saw on Etsy. I wanted the colors to be a tad more vibrant and less pastel, so I just recreated it for our event. 

The cake is an original design. Well, at least I can honestly say I didn't see it on Pinterest! We had a local cake designer bake and ice the cake for us, and then my sister Katherine and I bought three bags of the Brach's Tart & Sassy Conversation Hearts candy and separated out the pink, peach, yellow and white hearts. Katherine came up with this beautiful spiraling pattern and she and Marin placed each candy into the icing one by one just moments before the shower guests arrived. The cake had been refrigerated and we were worried that the candy might bleed or worse fall off the cake if we did it too early. The candy did sweat a little, and I think if it had not been cold when the candies were added this might not have been a problem. Even so, the candies stayed in place and nothing fell off before the guests enjoyed it. Katherine was so kind to include Marin in the decorating, so keep in mind that a five year old assisted in the placement of the candies!

I saw this beautiful paper garland background used at a summer wedding reception by Floridian Weddings and I was in love. So, if you like what we created here, you've got to check out their super duper amazing creation here.

How adorable is that "e"? Elizabeth's Sister-n-law made it for the baby's room and we decided it was a perfect addition to the mantle decorations for the party.

We played a round of Pregnancy Mad Gab which was a HUGE hit and ooed and awwed over the gifts.

That's one happy and excited Granny!

Did I mention that Elizabeth is having a girl? 

Marin is super excited about the new baby and was very helpful to me the day of the shower.

Speaking of girls, look at my baby girl Coralee. Sweet, sweet baby Coralee. Time flies...

Silent Hunting Theme Baby Shower {The Remix}

The hunting baby shower that I hosted in December of 2010 is still the most popular post on my blog. So when the the same girl was pregnant with baby number two (another boy) I was quickly inspired to create a more low key remix version of this same theme. After all, it's hunting season!

It's often, with baby number two, that parents have all the necessary items but who doesn't need diapers?! So I created a "silent" baby shower for members of our church to participate in. The baby's name is DAX and so Diapers for Dax was born. For three weeks this 20x30 poster was hung on the wall in the foyer of the church with a box below it.

I ordered the poster ($19) and 50 4x6 prints from Walmart and distributed the 4x6 prints to the congregation. Participants or "guests" were asked to bless the family by "bagging a pack of diapers or wipes" and were given "pamper permits" to tag their score. This allowed them to put their name on the gift without the effort or expense of wrapping it.

This same concept would work for an office setting or for a teacher. Besides the initial time invested in the design and theme, it was a simple, easy way to bless this family. PLUS, it really worked! Let's just say, I think the hunters all hit their bag limit.