Husband Clearance

Here's what happens when your husband stops by the grocery store...and wanders through the clearance isle.  Uh huh - 9 boxes of gluten free cookie mix.  Yes, they WERE 50% off.  But now what? 

My creative husband has discovered that sugar cookie dough makes for a marvelous cobbler topping, so that's what we're SUPPOSED to do with at least half of these boxes, so I'm told.  *smiles*  (You can use homemade, or the dough that comes pre-made in the tube!) 

So the top shelf in my pantry is now lined with these boxes.  A reminder of my man's thriftiness...just like all those canned goods on the OTHER side of the pantry.  *winks*

Kipper the Dog 2nd Birthday Party

Planning a feminine puppy party is no simple feat lemme tell ya!  Here's my best shot - and it was fun. 

(I have edited out my daughter's name in several of the pictures.  If there appears to be a "blank" spot in some of the decorating...there is...but only in the pic!)

Woof!



On the front door, this wreath welcomed our guests.  It took forever to curl that much ribbon, but I like the outcome. 



The cake was ordered from an awesome local bakery.  Unfortunately, there was a mix-up about the colors so when the cake arrived I was shocked to see coloring more along the "neon" lines than pale or pastel!  And instead of pale teal, there was blue!  *sigh*  It still tasted great. 

And the coloring ended up working just fine with the entry table...



The "Doggie Bags" were the take home favors for the kids.  Here's what was in 'em...

I put my daughter's picture at the front of a cellophane bag with the other goodies behind.  "With love and thanks" was written on the picture (designed quickly in Power Point and printed at Wal-Mart) and made for a great "Thank You" card.  (Stickers, bracelet, Fruit Leather and dog bone candy were included in the Doggie Bag.  Bone Cup and Bubbles were given out separately.)

Stretch Island Fruit Leather is kept on hand in my pantry.  We get it at Costco.  The dog bone individually packaged candies and stickers were from Oriental Trading Co. with the dog bone cups bought off of Amazon. 

The take home treat for the adults came in the form of this fun lollipop!  Also thanks to Oriental Trading Co.  Instead of using a letter for a monogram, I had them print the number "2" with her name underneath.  They turned out exactly as I had imagined.

The printable water bottle labels cost about $20.00 for 100 of 'em and they're not even water proof!  My husband actually had the idea of using the wider ribbon instead!  Cheaper AND it held up to the sweating bottles.  I whipped out my scissors and a glue gun and these were done quickly!





I affixed a floral wreath upside down, to the light fixture over our dining room table.  Then, hung this sign above the food!  Target had these great dry erase (double sided!) boards and strips in their dollar bin.

Pink and white marshmallows nod to the outer space "Bleeper People" from the Kipper show.  Iced shortbread cookies are one of my all-time favorites!

Who can resist puppy chow?  Yummy goodness.

Having big, awkward bags of chips just tossed on a table can be tacky at a "nice" party.  The table was quite full and didn't exactly have room for more bowls.  Instead, this basket housed the rolled-down chip bags nicely.

Strangely, I stumbled upon this nifty idea!  I made a magnet board full of pictures of our daughter - birth to 2 years.  The cut-out flowers I hot glued on the back of a basic round magnet (found at any craft store) and just "stuck" the magnet in the middle of the baking cup!  Just the little touch of color and creativity I was looking for.  (I also made a couple baking cup garlands which are not shown.)

Because we have chosen to be gluten, sugar and dairy free...all the time for our daughter, and some of the time for me...it's hard to find a "cake" she can eat!  (Last year we left out the whole "get all messy with the cake" thing and instead she had half of an avocado with a birthday candle.  *grins*) 

This year, I discovered and apple cinnamon muffin mix that fit our "standards."  She was thrilled to have her own special cake - with blueberries and strawberries on top. 

Thanks for celebrating our daughter's 2nd birthday with us!  Glad you could come. 

We have been blessed.

*All printables were designed by WithLoveGreetings found over at Etsy.  She was so easy to work with and helped me out with a last minute invite!

What Could It Be? And a Sneak Peek.

We are refinishing a Goodwill find.  Hopefully it will be done in just a couple of weeks - there are two pieces, one is ready for staining.  Even our daughter decided she should help out...after all, it IS for HER!  *smiles*  Now, it's a family project.

Here's a sneak peek from the birthday party post which is coming soon.  (Still editing out names, etc.)

This Is The Way We Post

Above you see a picture of the boxes which recently were mailed from my home.  Nothing uniform about 'em.  In fact, I think my husband was quite embarrassed hauling the potty chair box into the Post Office!  But hey, those boxes are what we had on hand.  And we got a good laugh out of it.  (The potty box was headed to a family with three little ones, so I knew they would understand.)

This is the way my in-laws have ALWAYS mailed things...letters, boxes...you name it!  (This box was covered front AND back.)  My husband's side of the family has a few avid stamp collectors who well, collect great stamps!  Imagine my surprise when I opened up one of my magazines (Which one?  Uhm...Country Living maybe?) and saw them suggest the same thing!

Oh and a note to the Postal Service - not ONE of the stamps had been cancelled on the above pictured package.  NOW what am I supposed to do?  Re-use them or trash em?  Moral dilemma.  *smiles*

My daughter's birthday invitation last year was mailed out in a similar fashion...

So, this is the way we post things around here.  It's good to take a common task, such as mailing a letter, and add a twist to make it fun!  Be silly by using a diaper box to mail something to your brother or stick a page full of 2 cent stamps on an envelope.  Yes, there are times to be very tasteful and send packages full of tactfulness.  But hey...lighten up a little and enjoy a basic task for a change.

*Grace*

I just stumbled upon this over at Texas Tanners and thought I'd share it with everyone.  It's a printable!

As a stay at home mom, I put this level of perfection and expectation on myself.  Since my job is AT home, FROM home and IN my home, my home should be the epitome of cleanliness and order at all times.  NOT!  (Thanks to my husband who is helping me see this lie more clearly.  Love you, Babe.)

Yeah, you might walk in my house and find everything sparkling clean like the Cleaver's home thiiiiis time, but the neeeext time you drop in - look out!  Piles here, projects there.  Toys spread about.  Laundry covering the "cutch" as my little one calls it.  Dirty dishes in the sink with supper on 'em.  It's sometimes tidy, sometimes not.  It's called L-I-F-E.  Now, I'm to do my best.  But I'm also am not supposed to beat myself up everytime I go to bed with folded clothes to be put away, floors that didn't get swept and the cat box that should have been changed last week!  Balance...life is a balancing act.

We LIVE in our home.  We're not a magazine family who drops our kids off at school/daycare at 7 AM in the morning, parents then heading to our respective offices for the day leaving behind a picture perfect, stylish city flat we won't see again 'til after a restaraunt supper and that'll be around oh, 7 PM.  It's not take-out Chinese and Central Park on the weekends.  We live all day and all night in our house.  (I am not trying to be-little or pick on anyone who does lead a similar lifestyle as the above mentioned.  It's just not...us.) 

Yes, yes, we do eat out - more often than we should.  We take walks and go to the park.  We go shopping, also more than we should.  But my point is - we are the "lived in" kind of people.  Not pristine.

SO, based on this my home will never be magazine cover quality.  And, I'm learning to be OK with that.  We are a FAMILY.  We love our home.  We love our things and we're bargain hunters - with that comes storage issues!  We enjoy kids, and people with kids.  We like getting wet/muddy in our own backyard and bringing a bit of it inside.

I don't want my children growing up with a false sense of their mother's perfection, nor do I want them thinking that they have to be perfect (or have to pretend that they are.)  Instead, may my house be filled with LOVE, GRACE, TRUTH and above all CHRIST.

Snapware Glasslock Review - Farewell plastic!

In trying to become more "natural" or "green" or "health conscious," whatever you want to call it, I'm trying to use less plastic and more glass.  Now if someone will only come out with a breakage-free glass kiddy snack container! 

My husband just bought these glass storage containers for me at our Costco.  They were a whopping $23 for the entire set!  9 containers with matching snap-on lids!  I'd seen a similar set at Sam's, but the price was the same for about half as many pieces.

They're by Snapware.  And are stamped, "Made in Korea."  If you don't have a Costco in your area or don't have a membership, there are other places the Snapware Glasslock pieces are available.

Try Ebay such as here...
Or Target online here...
Sears online even carries them here...
And see Amazon's listing here...

None of their prices are as good as the one at Costco, but maybe there will be a bargain, coupon, sale or in store option for you!  *smiles*

The lids on the babies seal tightly, so tightly in fact that the inner seal tends to come apart from time to time.

That's the only drawback I see.  But for the Costco price and for what you get - I can deal with this!  Actually, it's good for washing when food goo gets all over.

They are dishwasher, microwave and oven safe.  Great for cooking then storing in the fridge!  I like the fact that I can take them from the fridge, pop off the lid and head to the microwave or oven and warm up my daughter's meals!  I always worry about warming things up in the microwave in plastics, then again, I use the stove top as often as possible.  (I've actually moved the microwave into a hall closet off of the kitchen so access is more difficult!)  The fewer waves of micro that enter my child's food the better!  *winks*  

Dresses....for mucho less!

I know that I recently posted about some of my Goodwill finds.  But hey, I just HAD to show you more...

Here's a dress I picked up at Goodwill last week, it's from Phoebe Couture.  Waaaaay cheaper than Neiman Marcus or Saks Fifth Avenue, eh?  At first sight I thought this was a vintage piece, then upon inspecting the tag realized it was new!  Also, the size had been cut out, which made me feel even better - is it a 6, 8, 10, 12?  I'll go with the 6.  *winks*

Now, to lose 5 lbs. (or more!) so things aren't so shapely in the rear.  I can do that in a month, right?  A friend's rehearsal dinner is coming in a few weeks.


No cleavage from this scoop neck, marvelous! 
Dress doesn't drape well on the hanger, much better on!



Their tags are so pretty.

 

Great beading - well secured.



Matching detail around the hem and sleeves.


My mom and I went garage saling the other weekend and found this dress for my daughter!

Yes, it's a Strasburg.  Any guesses as to the price?  *drum roll*  $7.50!  Yes, seven dollars and fifty cents.  It needs a bit of hemming but other than that it should fit wonderfully for the wedding next month.  I've always loved the Strasburg dresses, and we all know how pricey that can be.  I can afford $7.50 with a huge smile on my face.  Thanks, Lord for a super find!

And there you have it!  From my research, I would estimate the new purchase value of the dresses combined to be in the $300 range.  Wow. 

I spent - $9.99 + tax and $7.50 - BOTH dresses for under $20!  Now, I'd say that's a bargain AND a gift from Above!