Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Mother's Day Giveaway and Coupon Code

I have so many reasons to be grateful for the Mothers in my life (Mommy friends, Mom, Patty, and more).... I am feeling the need to express my gratitude in the form of a GIVEAWAY!!!



Use our Rafflecopter Widget below (By Midnight, Sunday, May 5th) to enter to win one of these adorable Barnwood Photo Holders in Tiffany Blue.  Win it for you, your Momma, or another Mother figure in your life worth rewarding.  I will ship it Monday, May 6th so you have it in time to gift for Mother's Day!

And, of course- if you love our Photo Holder and need to make sure you get your hands on one- you can find them on our Esty Site.  As a gift to you, for Mother's Day- use Coupon Code MOMMA at checkout for 15% off your order!

Good Luck!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Grow Your Own Wheat Grass in a Week! (Bringing some Earth Inside- Belated Earth Day Post)

Happy Earth Day, a day late

I thought, what better way to celebrate Earth Day, than to show you how you can bring a little Earth Inside!  Growing Wheat grass is VERY simple and so fun to watch progress because it happens so quickly!
AND... Not only does it look pretty inside, it also has some GREAT HEALTH BENEFITS!!! Here's an article I enjoyed on the Health Benefits of Wheat Grass, since you are growing it yourself- you know where it came from and how it was grown, does it get any more ORGANIC than that?!

Buy

Step one to growing your own Wheat Grass is to go to a store with a bulk food section (we love Fred Meyer for this reason).  You should be able to find Wheat Berries.  There are several different varieties- I usually end up getting Red.  This is what they look like.

Soak

Step 2 is just as simple.  Put them in a bowl and soak them in some water for 1-2 days.  After they are soaked, they will start to sprout- like the image below.  Once they've sprouted you are only a couple days away from beautiful grass!



Plant


You can use virtually any container to grow your wheat grass.  I personally think it is fascinating to also see the roots grow so I like planting them in glass.  But, I also like the look of the barnwood box I used, and metal!  (If you are using wood, make sure you line it with plastic so water doesn't seep out and ruin the surface you put it on.)  Use potting soil to fill your container about 1/2 an inch from the top.  Then sprinkle your sprouted wheat grass on top of the soil.  You want them to be really close together, but they don't need to be layered on top of each other.  


Water


The most important part of growing wheat grass is watering.  When you first lay them on top of your soil, make sure you saturate the soil pretty well with water.  Then, twice a day use a spray bottle on a mist setting and mist the wheat grass.  That is ALL YOU HAVE TO DO!

WATCH IT GROW




Using Wheat Grass in your Decor


I used a variety of containers to grow and incorporated them in my Kitchen, Dining Room and Living Room Mantel to brighten up my rooms for Spring!  There are many cute ideas on Pinterest, I am sure for how to use it in other seasons as well- Have fun Pinning!  How cute would a creative container planted with Wheat Grass be for a Mother's Day Gift?!







FOR KIDS TOO!

I also brought a container I planted to my Charges (the littles that I Nanny).  They LOVED watching the grass sprout, grow roots and grow each day and also enjoyed watering!  I encourage you to do this project with your children- and maybe even put some Wheat Grass in their next smoothie!




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Friday, April 19, 2013

DIY Pallet Veggie Garden- Free Container Garden 101


It is FINALLY warm enough to start the garden!!!  I am super excited about growing veggies this year with Madisyn- she is so interested in everything, I just know she will enjoy helping me water and enjoy the fruits of our labor!

My Current Situation

For the past two years I've made due with one small 2.5' by 20'ish space to grow vegetables in.  (We have a small back yard and not much of it gets full sun because we have a tall fence and neighbors' trees filtering every-which-way (as you can see below)


So this strip is the only place it worked to clear out some grass and devote it to edibles.)  I tried to jam pack everything I could in that small space the first year, and it was clear what would do well and what wouldn't.  So the second year I stuck to what I knew worked= Beans, Tomato and Zucchini   I tried one of the really cool Gutter Gardens for lettuce I found on Pinterest, but I had a hard time keeping it wet enough for the seeds to germinate, and if they did, they soon shrived from thirst.  

Inspiration


We do not have anywhere else we can put in ground gardens.  BUT, we do have a basketball court, that we only use for entertaining.  This is a perfect place with a section of full sun to introduce some container gardens!  
Pallet Gardens are all the rage lately, and I thought what better place to grow lettuce, spinach, kale and more?!  We 

So here's our ---------------------------------

Materials:

  • 2 Pallets in Good Condition
  • Weed Mat, or other porous material to contain the dirt
  • 8 bags of Top Soil
  • 2 bags of Manure
  • Staple Gun and Staples
  • Shovel
  • Gardening Gloves
  • Soaked Seeds
  • Scrap Wood
  • 3" Screws
  • Drill
  • Chop Saw

Step 1

We measured the open edge of our pallets so we knew how long we needed to cut our scrap wood to [box in] where the dirt would go.  We cut the scrap wood with our Chop Saw.


Step 2

We used 3" screws and attached the scrap wood to the open end of the pallets to form a [box].


Step 3

We laid down our pallets top side down and rolled out our Weed Mat over the bottom.  The space underneath the weed mat is where the dirt will go.
Then we used a staple gun and stapled down the weed mat on all sides, making sure to not leave any large spaces un-stapled because we need it to hold the dirt in!



Step 4

We mixed 4 bags of Top Soil with 1 bag of Manure in the wheel barrow for each pallet.  We flipped over the pallets and started filling them with dirt.  Making sure to pack the dirt into the sides and underneath each row.  Don't you love how the pallet automatically creates planting rows?!



My Pallet Garden Layout



This was a very quick and easy project, that allows almost ANYONE to have a garden (even on an apartment patio!)  I hope you'll make one and learn how rewarding it is to grow you own food.

I am so excited to watch these grow!  I will be sure to share photos as they sprout and start to produce!


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Saturday, April 13, 2013

It's Never too Early to Plan Ahead- My Top 10 Father's Day Pins

I just scheduled my Father's Day Pinterest Party- and I got excited- and started searching for Pins.  I added some really fun ones that I had not seen last year to my Father's Day Pinterest Board, and had to share some with you.  Below, you will find my-


Neck Tie Wreath

My Husband ALMOST NEVER wears ties, but I cannot resist this adorable Tie Wreath- we WILL need one on our front door!


Dad Garland

This would be a super cute mantel banner for Dad's Special Day.

Love You to Peices

Kyle loves Candy, this would be a easy win!


Daddy Subway Art

Again, a great addition to a Father's Day Mantel.



Nuts About Daddy

What Daddy doesn't love NUTS?!



Super Dad Party

It would be very fun to throw a Father's day party for all our friends!  And this is a very cute theme.


Tee-Rific Dad

Daddy Loves Golf!  A thoughtful, inexpensive way to honor Dad.

Photo Art Gift

SOOOOO sweet!

Hero & Love

Once we have two, Dad will need this!

Candy Caddy

More Candy, a surefire way into Daddy's Heart!

It's never too early to get some ideas!  Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Nikon Camera Giveaway!!!

I LOVE the inspiration I gather from the blog world- there are SOOOO many fabulous blogs out there I could spend 25 hours a day sucked into them!

My second favorite thing about blogs is GIVEAWAYS!!!  This morning I stumbled across a giveaway I couldn't pass up entering.  It is for this------------------------------


I wanted to give you all the opportunity to enter as well, but I HOPE I WIN, so that I can take photos up a notch for my lovely readers, LIKE YOU!

You can enter at Erin Branscom--- GOODLUCK!

Have a wonderful day,


Tuesday, April 9, 2013

"Welcome Little Jelly Bean" Baby Shower


A Few Weeks ago I teased my followers on Facebook with this...   

And now I will REVEAL!!!


My best friend Toni and her husband Burton are expecting a baby boy this May!  I could not be MORE excited.  They are meant to be parents and I am so thrilled they get to partake in this blessing of life!

Toni is from England, and she is very humble and kind in a way that is hard to describe- maybe it's because she's from England, maybe not?!  Anyway, she was thinking all along that she was going to throw her own baby shower... UMMMM, NO!   It is their first baby and they wanted a co-ed shower to celebrate with all their friends and family.  Of course I told Toni as soon as I thought of it, that I'd be throwing her baby shower- she kept trying to tell me no, but I didn't let her.

It was the first baby shower I had the honor to throw, and I was EXCITED to start planning!  With the help of three of her other close friends, the theme of Jelly Bean developed. (Toni had been calling her little William growing inside her a "little jelly bean")

I had tons of fun making machine sewn banners with paint chips (of course got the idea from the Paint Chip Egg Garlands all over Pinterest).  I used my Shilhouette to cut the letters, my rounded corner punch to round the corners of the squares that didn't come that way and I hand cut all the Jelly Bean shapes.





















To machine sew each tag together with the others I sewed them on top of wax paper and then just tore off the wax paper when we were ready to hang them!



We ended up with one REALLY LONG "Welcome Little Jelly Bean" and 3 just Jelly Bean Garlands.  The "Welcome" one I hung over our Treat Table, 1 Jelly Bean on a Entry Window, 1 over the Kitchen Window and 1 on the Mantel where the gifts would be.







I made the WILLIAM letters with finished wooden letters from Joann's.  Just spray painted them alternating in Blue, Orange and Brown and then I Modge Podged a coordinating paper on the fronts of the brown letters.  Toni wanted letters for Williams room, so I figured these would make a cute piece of decor for the shower that could then be a gift from us that she uses in his nursery.


For favors I used the containers that we use for Cedarbrook's Bath Salts and made a custom label for them to create a keepsake for Toni and Burton's Guests to fill with Jelly Beans and take them home with them!


I had a lot of fun making the apathocary style vases to house the Jelly Beans.  I intended for these to be their own separate blog post weeks ago when I made them, but when my phone crashed I lost my progress photos I had taken of them while they were being made.  But for those of you who are interested-
  1.  I found 6 similar candle sticks at thrift stores.  
  2. Primed and Painted them white (about 6 coats).  
  3. Used E6000 glue and attached glass cylinders I found in sets of 3 at IKEA for $9! 
I used them for my Easter Decor before this baby shower and they were so cute with Easter Eggs.  I am excited to use them in the future with all sorts of fun things inside!


To fill each vase  it took almost all of the 15 lbs of Jelly Beans we ordered.  I found a great online source for Candy Bar Candy- Superior Nut Company had WONDERFUL customer service and I highly recommend them!

To incorporate the Tulips in the vases I found misc. cups that would fit inside the cylinder (but still allow room around the glass for Jelly Beans).  Filled them with water, then covered with Plastic Wrap (so the jelly beans wouldn't go in the water when I poured them in).  Put the tulips in the glasses pushing the stems through the plastic wrap, and then poured the jelly beans in the cylinders.   I made sure there was one vase that was just Jelly Beans in each color and placed a spoon in the top for guests to be able to fill their take away gifts!


You can see in this photo  that I used left over Paint Chips as signs to identify food for people so they didn't have to guess what things were.



 For the Dessert, Amber and her Mom made the yummiest and most adorable Jelly Bean Cake Pops (Once again, I AM NOT A BAKER- so I delegated this, and they did SOOO WELL!)  




Amber also did a Bath Tub Punch (click to find the wonderful blog the idea came from) which was very yummy and bright blue with floating bath duckies for Mr. William to enjoy later!

For food we decided on a Slider Bar, I didn't end up getting photos of the whole thing, but it was delish and looked pretty too!  My dear Kyle made 60 PERFECT Ranch Beef Sliders and I made Turkey, Spinach Feta as well!  




Water bottle labels were simply covered in coordinating paper, just to be cute.


Toni wasn't excited about her guests participating in and traditional baby shower games, so we just ate, drank, opened gifts and socialized.  I did however put together a keepsake book for William.  Each guest got to write "WISHES FOR WILLIAM" on a page of the book.  I found the page template here and just modified it to fit the size page I was using.




A good time was had by all, and I was honored to throw a party for such a good friend.  I could not have done it without Amber, Allie and the other Tracey- thank you ladies! (I wish we got a photo together, we didn't so a few of Toni and I will have to suffice- followed by some photos of guests enjoying themselves in the beautiful weather we had and of course I can't resist cute babies).













Thank you for looking, I hope you found some inspiration!

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