Coral and Blue Gender-Neutral Baby Shower

This weekend I had the pleasure of co-hosting {with my mom} a shower for my sister-in-law, Hannah.  She and my brother are due to have their first baby in just a few short weeks…and they’re not sharing the names or finding out the gender before the birth. 

To which I’ve told them about a million times: YOU’RE KILLING ME SMALLS.

lol

I am suuuuuper impatient, plus I just like to plan ahead.  I knew about my kids’ genders at 20 weeks and as soon as the gender was revealed, we revealed our final name selection to our families and friends.  It would have seriously, SERIOUSLY killed me not to know!  But…clearly there is not one right way to do it, and I have to admit, it is a little fun not knowing what the call from the hospital will be in a few weeks!

So anyway, I set out to plan a gender-neutral shower.  I was in charge of decor, and my mom took over the food since it was at her house.  There’s not really a ton of stuff out there {on the internet} for planning gender-neutral showers, since the majority of people find out the sex and also share the names.  Since green and yellow as a combo isn’t really a favorite of mine, and since Hannah’s favorite color is red, I decided to go with a more modern, fun twist on gender-neutral and do reds (coral/orange-red) with blues. 

 

I made a whole bunch of these pinwheels, using scrapbook paper {mostly from Hobby Lobby.}  I had made them 3 years ago for Luke’s party, so I made a whole bunch again, this time in different colors.  They’re super easy to do!

 

 

I scrounged around both my house and my mom’s for any antique books with red or blue bindings, and threw a bunch of baby blocks around the base instead of table confetti. 

 

 

    

 

I also happen to think that tissue-paper pom-poms are still pretty fabulous {thank you Martha}, so I made a bunch of them in different colors and hung them from my mom’s chandeliers (she has one in every room, which worked out really well for me!  lol). 

 

 

Pennant banners are also such an easy – and cheap! - way to dress up a space! 

 

 

I used blue mason jars of different sizes, along with small glass jars I’ve had for ages that I picked up at various yard sales.  The random cow was just something my mom had in the house and it looked babyish.  lol

    

Tip: filling the jars with sugar helps the pinwheels stay in place so you can arrange them the way you want!

 

I also picked up some felt at Hobby Lobby in the shower colors and cut out different-sized circles to decorate the food table.  This picture is before all the food was out but we had 4 quiches, hash-brown casseroles, apple cider donuts, Panera bagels, and a big fruit salad, along with juices, teas, and coffee.  For dessert we had homemade cupcakes.  My mom did a great job with the food – it was delish! 

 

 

I was also SO thrilled that Wal-Mart had napkins, plates, and cups in the exact shower colors!  For 97 cents – I couldn’t believe it!  For the silverware, I took tin cans and wrapped them with scrapbook paper and double-sided tape.  Just a cute little way to add a little extra something. 

 

 

 

I took a vintage chalkboard I already had and set it atop a Coke cup holder I had found at Goodwill a while back.  I love chalkboards so I thought this would be fun.  This is when the party had just started and I was running around like crazy trying to take pictures of everything because I seriously *always* forget to do that.  I think by the end of the party there was maybe 9 boy and 7 girl?  But not everyone remembered to vote.  My vote is totally boy! 

 

 

 

A vintage frame I already had…again with another pennant banner!  Can’t get enough of them.  Josh and Hannah were such cute little kids!

 

 

We ate, played two games and then she opened all of her gifts and we had dessert.  It was a really nice time and I laughed a lot! 

 

I had to grab a quick picture with Hannah - isn’t her dress fabulous?!  Seriously, Olivia was only born 8 months ago and already I catch myself saying, “The clothes are so much cuter now!”  haha!

 

Well, hopefully this post might inspire some of you if you ever need to throw a gender-neutral shower for someone!  I love party planning but I am a *little* relieved that I no longer have to spend my nights crafting pinwheels or tissue pom-poms!  lol

 

Have a great start to your week!

Homemade Ivory Soap Laundry Powder

{If you can, please scroll all the way to the bottom to read a little “p.s.” about this post from me, okay?  Thanks!}

 

You guys. 

This laundry powder (aka detergent, but that was obvious, right?) is soooo easy to make.  When I say 5 minutes, I literally mean 5 minutes from the time it takes to get the ingredients together, measure them, and put them into your jar.  I timed myself.  Seriously!

 

 

I went to a seminar in the spring at a local health food co-op about how to make your own laundry soap.  The presenter used 3 ingredients – Dr. Brommer’s Soap, Washing Soda, and Baking Soda.  I tried it that way at home, and it turned out great.  I used the almond scent (my fave!) and it smelled deeeelish. 

Except….Dr. Brommer’s bar soap, while awesome, is $3.99 a bar.  Plus you still have to buy the other two ingredients.  I’m sorry, I love our planet tons, but if I can easily get regular old detergent for $1.99 on sale at the grocery store, the price is going to win out for my family. 

Enter…Ivory soap.  This is the soap I used growing up, and we still use it in our house now.  It regularly goes on sale at my local grocery stores, it’s super cheap, PLUS there are frequently coupons for it in the paper.  I’ve gotten it for free or close to free many times before.  It’s unscented and super mild, so I knew it would be safe for my kids’ clothes. 

 

And it works great! 

Here’s how you do it:

First, grate your soap.  Seriously, this took me less than 2 minutes.  I timed myself.  Watch a YouTube video while you do it if you really need some incentive. 

 

 

 

Just make sure if you leave it on the counter nobody in your house mistakes it for shredded coconut.  lol

 

 

 

Then, measure your baking soda and washing soda (you’ll need 1/2 C of each). 

 

 

Add your baking and washing soda mixture to your shredded soap.  I like to dump everything into a gallon-size ziploc to mix it all in and shake it around. 

 

 

 

Then pour it all into a jar (or you could totally just leave it in the bag, if you prefer!).  I like to keep mine in a mason jar.  I have a thing for those vintage zinc lids! 

 

 

That’s IT! You’re finished! And you may or may not feel very accomplished and a little like Laura Ingalls.  Or maybe that’s just me.  lol

 

Here’s the “technical” recipe:

1 bar of Ivory soap, grated
1/2 C of washing soda
1/2 C of baking soda

Add 1 T to a full load of laundry (modify more or less for smaller loads or heavily soiled loads).   **I doubled the recipe for myself, so your mason jar will not be as full as mine if you follow this recipe as-is.*

 

Helpful hints:

- I like to start my washer and then sprinkle in the powder as the water starts, in order to help it dissolve a little. Then I add my clothes.

- I wash all of my kids’ clothes and some of my clothes on gentle cycle.  Occasionally on gentle cycle I will notice a flake or two here and there of Ivory that hasn’t dissolved after the cycle has completed.  Just flick it off – no biggie!

- I continue to use Shout as spot treatment for stains (I’ve always done that).  As long as I do that for tough stains like food from my kids, this detergent woks just as well as any other detergent I’ve tried!  I made sure to test it thoroughly before sharing with all of you.  :)

 

So, there you go!  A super cheap, clean, much-more-environmentally-friendly method of cleaning your clothes.  If you try it be sure and let me know how it works for you! :)

 

-----

Okay, so on to my little “p.s.” You might notice that every so often I’m going to have pictures up on my blog that have text on them.  Aka “The Pinterest-Worthy Pictures.”  Unless you’ve been off Pinterest for a while, you’re probably well aware that the site is FULL of pictures like this.  It’s a little obnoxious, I’ll admit it.  And sometimes super annoying.  (Aka a blogger I really like once had a picture of her son’s face and text around him saying something like, “How to talk to your kids about s-x.”  Really?!  You want that picture of your son with those words going around the internet?  So yes, people take it a little far.  I will 100% agree with that. 

BUT.  This blog makes my family a {small!} amount of side income, thanks to the ads on the side.  I am soooo grateful to God for allowing this little bit of money to come in to help us out as a one-income household.  So I figured why fight Pinterest – just embrace it.  Kinda like pointed-toe shoes in college.  I swore I would never own a pair because they looked like witch shoes, but lo and behold I caved and my short little legs had never looked longer or better.  I ended up with multiple pairs.  But I digress.  haha!

Anyway, these Made-for-Pinterest photos aren’t going away, so I’m going with it.  I’m trying out posts here and there to see how they do in the Pinterest world.  So if you see one from me every now and then, you have every right in the world to roll your eyes and refuse to click through.  Or you can {bless your little heart} use the “Pin-It” button that hovers over my pictures, and bring it to the big wide world of Pinterest.  But just know that I’m just a stay-at-home mom of two trying to make a few extra dollars for my family and trying my hardest NOT to annoy anyone in the process.  Really. :)

 

Okay, I hope that all made sense!  Thanks for sticking with me! :)

Little Bits of Happy

We spent the majority of our weekend in New York City {Manhattan and Staten Island}, seeing a friend from college get married.  We got to spend time with two other college friends and had a wonderful time.  I treasure these few and far-between times with college friends, because life after school has thrown us all around the country.  And honestly, we’re running out of friends getting married and giving us an excuse to see each other!

Today is one of those days I’m just so happy to be home, in my space, loving on my kiddos and enjoying puttering around and being here.  I love when times away (even super quick trips like this one!) reinvigorate my love for the life I have and the three precious people in my family.  It is no secret I absolutely 100% love the life and vitality of big cities – I had an amazing time and loved every second of it, to be sure. 

But home is good too.  My life is SO far from perfect or problem-free, but I still wouldn’t trade my life with a single other person I know. 

So today, I am grateful for…

 

…great memories with my husband and two dear old friends.  Makes me happy that we can still connect and have a great time even when the time between visits has been long {annnnd a dress that only cost me $2 at Goodwill – still super excited about that deal!}…

   

 

…my beloved Pike Place roast this morning {thrifted mug, still love it} and homemade cinnamon swirl bread, thanks to my friend Amber sharing her recipe.  {Is there anything happier than homemade toasted bread covered in salty butter?!}…

 

 

 

…a fall-weather-is-creeping-in chill in the air…

 

 

…coupled with the beautiful view from my back door of our freshly-mowed yard looking out onto the farm this morning… 

 

…a happy, chunky, healthy little girl playing with her toys (someone gave us these jammies for her, and every time she wears them we laugh that she’s in baby prison)…

 

 

 

…a silly, sweet little boy in mis-matched jammies because Mommy is behind on laundry from the weekend, wearing a hat sideways as the sunshine floods our living room…

 

…new earrings and a *delish* new candle {Hot Cider by Yankee Candle} from Kohl’s that cost me all of $.63 since I had a $5 coupon for giving them my e-mail address {thought I had done that before but I guess not?  You should totally do it if you haven’t yet!}…

 

…glimpses that a precious little girl actually lives in our house this fall…

 

…fall decorations, that I wait all year for, finally out of the attic and around my house…

 

…the spicy, warm smell of chocolate-chip zucchini bread fresh from the oven…

 

…one-on-one time with my baby girl (with serious bed-head – love it!) while big brother is at school…

 

I am grateful for these simple gifts today!

Evelyn’s Shoppe Giveaway WINNER!

Wow, this giveaway had a ton of entries!  Clearly a lot of you are big fans of Megan’s beautiful scarves! :)

 

Before I get to the winner, I wanted to let you know that Megan is offering a 20% off discount code for anything in her shop to *anyone* who entered her giveaway!  Simply enter Take20off in the area where it says “Apply Shop Coupon Code” at checkout (right under the Visa and Paypal logos).  This code is good TODAY ONLY – August 30th, 2013. 

Remember how I told you about how I love to shop ahead for Christmas and how it reduces so much stress?  Well, this is  a perfect opportunity to do that!  Buy ahead today for your sister, your daughter, your mom, your children’s teacher, your best friend, your mother-in-law…you get the point! :) You’ll be getting a beautiful gift at a great deal and supporting a stay-at-home mom’s small business.  What’s not to love here, people?! :) I know I’m buying one today for my mother-in-law!

 

 

Anyway, the winner that Rafflecopter chose (you can see the name at the bottom of the original giveaway post) was:

 

Stephanie A.  {sjangle3…}

Stephanie, I have NO idea who you are but congratulations!!! I am seriously so happy for you and I know you will love your beautiful new scarf!  I’m sending Megan your contact info so she can get in touch with you!

 

Now go shop and get someone crossed of your list in August!  :)

Giveaway Day! {Evelyn’s Shoppe}

Hey everybody!  I am back from a long(ish) absence with an awesome giveaway for you.  Megan is one of my sister’s best friends, and even though we live in different states and we’ve never actually met, I feel like I know her from my sister’s stories (lol!).  She is a mom of two precious children – a toddler and a newborn - who somehow also manages to find the time to run her own home business (amazing). 

Megan owns Evelyn’s Shoppe, an adorable Etsy shop that features her beautiful handmade scarves.  She sent me one and it.is.gorgeous.  It’s super soft – not itchy or with random weird threads like some scarves in my closet!  The fabric is fantastic and something you actually want to have wrapped around your neck all day. 

I picked out the Gray and White Striped Eternity Scarf and I am in love with it:

 

 

Here’s what the fabric looks like flat….and wrapped (I was not having a good hair day when I took these photos – hence why my candlestick became my model. lol)

  

 

I think it’s adorable that she had her own tags made up! 

 

Megan sells “summer” and “winter” scarves in her shop – you can read the item description if you’re not sure how thick the fabric is.  I asked her about mine and she was totally upfront with me that the one I picked was more of a summer scarf and more decorative (as opposed to thick and warm to wear under a coat).  Fine by me, though - I plan on wearing it all year round! 

 

{Sidenote: Can I tell you one of my tricks to staying sane during the Christmas season?  Buying ahead.    I didn’t used to do this, and would come to December with a huge list of presents to buy and be totally overwhelmed.  Now I start as early as July and start setting things aside as I see them – and as they go on sale.  By the time December actually rolls around, I usually only have a few gifts and stocking stuffers left to purchase.  It makes me so happy knowing there’s a box full of Christmas gifts sitting under my bed in September! :) }

 

So…the great thing about today’s giveaway is that I think anyone and everyone can benefit from it! Either you’ll love the scarves and want to buy one for yourself (pretty sure that will happen), or if you’re not a scarf person, you’ll know someone on your list that would love one of these beautiful scarves and you can cross someone off your Christmas list IN AUGUST.  Think of how good THAT will feel! Can I get an amen?! 

 

Here are a few more of my favorites:

Peacock Printed Eternity Scarf (love these colors) -

 

Cream Knit Eternity Scarf (how cozy does this look?!) -

 

Brown Floral Eternity Scarf (I just think the color combo is so feminine) -

 

Don’t tell my mother-in-law, but she’s totally getting either the cream or the peacock scarf for Christmas! :)

P.S. For those of you that know my sister, yes, she is a model for some of the photos! :)

 

Megan’s also running a promotion through the end of August where you can get 10% off using the code BACK2SCHOOL10 in the checkout code.  So if you don’t end up being the lucky winner, you can still get a discount on one of these lovely accessories.   You can also follow Evelyn’s Shoppe on Facebook to see when new scarves are listed online. 

So…onto the giveaway!  I’m using Rafflecopter again…I love how automated and easy it is.  

Enter this giveaway to win a a free scarf of your choice from Evelyn’s Shoppe (good toward any scarf priced $18 or under, with free shipping!) 

Good luck!  Giveaway ends this Thursday, August 29th, and I’ll announce the winner on August 28th!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Five on Friday {First One!}

Oooooh it doesn’t matter how old you are – Fridays are just universally awesome, aren’t they?!  I decided to join in on this fun party I keep seeing other girls participating in…so let’s jump right in!

 

{1}  A few weeks ago Money Saving Mom published a submission of mine (cue jumping up and down on the phone as I called my husband) and I was “paid” with an Amazon gift card.  I used some of my money to buy this (sorry about the glare!!)…

 

     

I am totally in love with my new cookbook!!  I discovered Christy Jordan (she blogs at Southern Plate) a few months ago and I just LOVE her!  She is SO cute and down to earth.  Her “Dirty Rice” recipe is one of our new household staples.  So far, from her book, I’ve made her meatloaf and her macaroni and cheese.  DELISH!  (Her meatloaf tastes just like Cracker Barrel’s!)  I also tried her Chocolate Cobbler recipe but couldn’t get it to set up right so I’ll have to try it again in the future.  Her recipes are simple, with normal, easy-to-find ingredients.  I love that.  PLUS, every one comes with a story behind it.  I really enjoyed reading through it!  It’s like a cookbook and family memoir in one. 

 

{2} A friend introduced me to the show Call the Midwife on PBS.  You guys!  It’s so good!  It’s based on the memoirs of a nurse/midwife from the 1950’s in London.  It’s fascinating and I’ve laughed and cried at the episodes!  It’s a great show on it’s own, but it’s also a good filler for those of us in Downton Abbey withdrawal.  ;)  I watched Season 1 on Netflix and they have Season 2 on PBS for free right now!

 

 

 

{3}  Ummmmm….THIS GIRL. 

    

 

Seriously?  Baby espadrilles?!  I die.  She is 6 months old and the happiest baby we have ever met.  And no, we really aren’t biased – a million people have told us they’ve never met a happier or more smiley baby.  I know people always make comments about a little girl having her daddy wrapped around her little finger, but she has melted my heart just as much as his.  I just seriously adore her.

 

{4} This week I went to a Tailgate Swap Party with some friends!  My friend Mary blogged about it here (and if you think it’s a good idea, pin the photo from her site!  Pinterest has WAY too many of the same pins circulating around, if you ask me! lol).  Basically, we all loaded up our cars with stuff we didn’t want, met at a playground parking lot, and “shopped” each others’ cars – for free!! It was SO. MUCH. FUN.  I got rid of a ton of stuff and came home with some treasures…

 

kitchen items – including a stainless All-Clad skillet?!  Yes please!!! 

 

    

Melissa and Doug puzzles, kids’ crafts, baby clothes…

 

   

books, magazines, things for mommy….

 

even a Swiffer and some outside items. 

Seriously, what a blast.  Any one of these items would have made me happy, but all of them for free?  It was a good day. :)

 

{5} Monday is our 7-year anniversary, and Saturday night we’re going out on a date!!! I think it’s our first one since May?  Or April?!  Regardless, it’s been a LONG time and I am sooooo ridiculously excited!  We’re going to a local restaurant and hopefully eating outside (my fave) if the weather holds up!  Whoo hoo!

 

P.S. I just signed up to be an Amazon Affiliate, since they finally allow Connecticut residents to participate!  Yay!  This post contains referral links, and if you click on the link to purchase, I earn a very small percentage!  I will always and forever only recommend things I love (otherwise how embarrassing would that be?!)  Just wanted to let you know!

HAPPY WEEKEND!!

10 Delicious Ways to Use Up Extra Squash And Zucchini!

 

YOU GUYS!!!! I actually EDITED A PHOTO AND PUT IT ON MY BLOG!  hahaha!  This is a huge first for me.  So don’t laugh at how dark the photo is…or that it’s probably out of focus.  I am learning. 

Slowly.  But hey, I’m getting there. 

I figured around this time of the year, most people fall into one of two categories:  either a) you have zucchini falling out of your garden, and not enough time to use it all {aka us last year} or b) you have friends with zucchini falling out of their garden, and they are happily giving it to you {aka us this year, because we have awesome friends}.  I actually love the taste of zucchini and squash, so I thought it might be fun to do a compilation so that you can see the ways we like to cook it in our house! 

Enjoy! :)

 

{1}

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins from This Blessed Life

- Okay, shameless plug for my own recipe – but these muffins are like eating chocolate cupcakes for breakfast.  All the zucchini dissolves while baking – you’d never in a MILLION years guess these were full of veggies! Chris and Luke get SO excited when I make them!

 

{2}

Zucchini Tots from The Curious Country Cook

{image via The Curious Country Cook}

- Only 5 ingredients and super yummy.  If you’re out of bread crumbs, or just want a clean option, you can follow my “recipe” here (just add Italian seasoning!).  You’d definitely want to triple or quadruple this for a family dinner, though – I ate 5 just myself. ;)

And we may or not be having this for dinner again tonight.  Two nights in a row.  They’re that good.

 

{3}

Cheesy Zucchini Pizza from Eat Live Run

{image via Eat Live Run}

- This pizza is DELECTABLE, FABULOUS, AWESOME, pick your adjective.  You won’t regret making it!

{4}
Zucchini Parmesan via Alicia’s Homemaking

{image via Alicia’s Homemaking}

- Nice vegetarian dinner option, and much easier (in my opinion!) than eggplant parm! 

 

{5}

Zucchini Sticks with Marinara 

I copied this years ago from a blog and don’t have the original link anymore.  (Sorry!!) But the great news is that you can use squash OR zucchini for this one!  Here’s the recipe for you:

1/3 C bread crumbs
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 C Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
4 small zucchini or summer squash, cut into short strips and pulpy centers removed

Combine dry ingredients in a shallow bowl.  Dip squash in egg, then in crumb mixture. 

Place on cookie sheet and bake at 450 for 20 minutes.  We like to serve ours with warm marinara sauce sprinkled with more Parmesan cheese!  Mmmm!

 

{6}

Cheesy Squash Casserole from Paula Deen

{image via Food Network}

I made this once before when I had a ton of summer squash. It wasn’t my absolute favorite, but it was still tasty!  I didn’t use a vidalia onion, because all I had was a yellow one, so that might have affected the taste, as well. 

 

 

{7}

Zucchini Brownies from All Recipes

{image via All Recipes}

I’m having trouble finding the original brownie recipe I copied down years ago in the dark ages of 2007, but this is pretty similar.  I’d cut out the walnuts and the frosting, but that’s just me.  lol

 

{8}

Sauteed Zucchini and Squash

This is the way we always ate squash growing up – chopped into rings or small strips, often with a red bell pepper if my mom had one on hand.  Throw some olive oil in a pan and throw the squash on top.  Season with salt, pepper, minced garlic, and crushed red pepper if you like a little heat.  Cook on medium high until desired “doneness.” 

This is really good alongside burgers or grilled chicken!

 

-------------------------

And here are two more recipes that I’ve pinned but haven’t gotten the chance to try yet – they look awesome, though!

{1}
Zucchini Fritters from Alexandra’s Kitchen

{image via Alexandra’s Kitchen}

- She serves hers with homemade tzatziki sauce but I’m willing to bet they’d be pretty fabulous dipped in a little sour cream, too. ;)

{2}

Zucchini Chips from Vittles and Bits

{image via Vittles and Bits}

- Don’t these look so interesting?  They’re next on my list to try!

 

Hopefully this list inspires some of you!  What’s YOUR favorite way to cook these summer vegetables?  I’d love to hear – and if you have a link to share with me, even better! :)