Thanksgiving 2013

I really should have posted this before Thanksgiving, but I let life get in the way and I’m finally getting around to it.  This year we hosted our very first Thanksgiving dinner the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  Everyone brought a dish and we took care of the turkey, rolls, and a dessert.  I also wanted to dress up the house a little, so I made a Thankful Tree and napkin rings both of which were made from nature’s bounty.

The Thankful Tree came from an idea off Pinterest.  We have a wooded area a block away, so the little guy and I went searching for branches.  We also collected pinecones and evergreen tips from the trees in our backyard.  Before using the pinecones I baked them at 200F for 20 minutes to kill any creepy crawlers that made the pinecones their home. After 20 minutes I turned off the oven and left them in there for about an hour to cool (you can take them out right away, I was just busy with other preparations).  I put the branches in a tall vase and then filled it with the pinecones, evergreen tips, and some cranberries. 

I made tags from white pieces of paper and punched holes in the corner.  Our guests wrote down what they were thankful for and hung them on the tree. Most of the tags hung with just the hole, but some people used the string I provided to tie theirs on. 

I made napkin rings with extra evergreen tips, pinecones and cranberries.  I hot glued the tips together then hot glued the pinecones and three cranberries on.  I wrapped them around the napkins and that was it.  So pretty and festive!

I also made a flower arrangement with a $10 bouquet from Walmart and this pretty white vase.

Sometimes it is just the little extra touches that set the tone. I never got around to taking pictures of the whole set up, but it was so nice to get together with my family and enjoying a great dinner and company.

A Soldier's Silent Night

I heard this song a few years ago and it always brings strong emotions to me when I hear it.  It is the morning before Christmas and I just want to wish all those near and far a very Merry Christmas!

DIY Advent Calendar

Since the little guy is almost 5 and all about counting these days I thought this was the perfect year to introduce an Advent Calendar.  We just put up our tree and he’s asked at least 6 times how many days until Christmas so this is perfect for him to count down.

I had a really hard time finding one I liked so I decided to make one instead.  I made this using a few different ideas from Pinterest and they used toilet paper rolls, but I made this last minute so no tp rolls.  Instead I used three wrapping paper rolls that were all the same diameter (not the skinny ones).  I cut each roll using a serrated steak knife into 8 pieces that were about 3-3/4” long.

 

Using a ribbon spool, I made circles on silver tissue paper that were about twice the diameter of the rolls.  I cut them out and then glued them onto one side with Elmer’s glue. I found it easiest to first put down four sides then wrap your hand around it and smooth it down.

Next I wrapped each roll with more silver tissue paper. I didn’t have quite enough to wrap them completely so I had to leave a little bit unwrapped but I figured it wouldn’t show by the time I was done.

Next up, you can either glue them into a pyramid “tree” shape with three coming down for a tree trunk or glue them together into a 4 x 6 grid using a hot glue gun.  Then write the numbers 1 – 24 on each one (or if you are like me and accidently skipped number 21, then print out numbers and glue them on). 

Oops!

I found a 24 pack of small ornaments while shopping on Friday but only half of them actually fit inside so I filled them up with an ornament or Hershey kiss or both.

To hang it I cut a slit midway along the top of the outer rolls and slid in wide curling ribbon and tied the ends.  The little guy should be able to break the tissue paper really easily and get the prize inside!  I’m super excited to start this new tradition with him.

*My rolls started falling apart, so I made a quick modification and wrapped ribbon around the entire outside to hold it all together.

Polka Dot Flower Arrangements

For the Cute As A Button shower I made these flower arrangements in polka dot pots.

I took a 2 hour flower arranging class a few years ago and surprisingly a couple things stuck with me.  I really enjoy doing this and it is easier than you might think.  I apologize, but the pictures below all ended up washed out.  I blame the bad lighting in my kitchen.

You will need wet flower foam (make sure it is the wet kind).  It comes in a block, but you can cut it easily with a knife. 

It doesn’t need to fill the entire space, just fit inside and close to the top of the container. Fill up a large container of water or the sink with water and let the block of foam float and it will slowly fill with water and fall to the bottom. Then place it into your container.

Next you will need flowers.  I bought these bunches at Sam’s Club.  For these arrangements I used white mums, pink, red, and purple carnations, and yellow roses.

You will begin by cutting the the flowers into individual stems and remove all the leaves.

The next step is to open up the roses.  You do this by removing 5-6 outside petals.  Then using your finger, starting from the outside, run it in circles towards the center of the flower.  This will loosen the petals and make them fuller.

Now it’s time to build the arrangements.  I used three roses and put those in first in a circle near the center.  Then fill in the top part of the arrangement with the other flowers mixing the colors around. 

Here’s a view from the side so you can see about how high I started the arrangements. 

Now, all you need to do is keep filling in around the bottom alternating colors.  I did this by adding one color of carnation throughout, then another color, and then the third color.  I finished by adding in the white mums as an accent color throughout the colors. 

And voila!  Four simple bunches of flowers turned into unique and beautiful arrangements!  For those curious about the cost, the containers were on clearance for $3 each, the wet foam is about $8 which was enough for all four pots, and the bunches of flowers were about $36.  So each arrangement cost me $14. 

Cute As A Button!

My coworker is having her first baby next month.  We hosted a shower for her last night at work and we chose “Cute As A Button” as our theme.  It was a lot of fun to put together and I think it turned out so cute! 

Another coworker looked to Pinterest and saw the idea of using colored paper plates and adding black dots to make them look like buttons and then strung them together with curling ribbon. 

I made cupcakes and decorated them with chocolate buttons using a mold.  I found a blog with button cupcake wrappers and toppers, which brought everything together nicely.

My coworker also found these cute tins with a flower and button in the center.  She filled them with pillow mints and were a cute favor for everyone to take home.

I also made these flower arrangements using polka dot pots I found on clearance at Stein’s last fall.  I was just waiting for the opportunity to use them, and they were perfect for the shower.

Carnival (Circus) Themed Party

Every year we have a party at work that we call our Spring Social.  It used to be a wine and cheese party that has expanded into more elaborate parties.  We’ve done a mini-golf theme where everyone was put in teams and they had to make a mini-golf hole using supplies around the office.  Last year it was more subdued with Food & Drink from Around the World.  This year we decided on a Carnival (Circus) Theme and it was one of our best yet.

We rented a dozen carnival games from the Milw. Public School system.  They were $200 and they dropped them off and picked them up.  They were less expensive than other party rental companies and we liked that the money was going to the schools in the area. 

For decorations we decided on red, blue and yellow as the main colors and had balloons, streamers, tablecloths, and banners.  These were all bought from the Dollar store or Bartz’s party supply.  In total they cost about $100.

Food included jumbo pretzels, nachos, mini corndogs, mini cream puffs, licorice, lollipops, cracker jack, cotton candy, peanuts, and a popcorn wagon.  For drinks we had old fashioned soda, beer, and a slushy machine with lemonade.  The slushy machine can be rented, but we have a insider that got it for us for free for the day. 

We also had five prizes (each $20-30) that we raffled off to the group.  They included a beach blanket with cooler and beach ball, popcorn popper with popcorn and seasonings, pizza grill stone with utensils, gardening kit, and a pair of Brewer tickets.  Everyone who played a game got five raffle tickets and they could put them in for whichever prize they were interested in.

Crazy, Busy

This has been one of the busiest and craziest summers that I can remember.  This is my event list from now until the end of August:

2 Weddings

2 bachelorette parties (I’m getting too old for these)

2 baby showers (Yay!)

A week at the lake (can’t wait!)

4 birthdays (including my own)

Company picnic (I suck at softball, but it won’t keep me from playing)

4K Orientation (4K already?!?!)

Most likely another trip up north over Labor Day weekend

And showings, showings, showings… will we ever sell this place?