Party Pics

Emery's 1st birthday party with the family was a success. Her Gramma and Granddad came in from Texas, her Uncle Taylor came up for Charleston, and her Uncle Scott, Aunt Kristen, and cousins Owen and Eme came down from DC. Grammy and PopPop and Aunt Sarah, Uncle Dan, and cousin Woodburn didn't have to travel far. When I was thinking a family luncheon, I don't think I realized how big our family gets with everyone there, but I planned a simple lunch menu which made it pretty easy.

Here are some pics from the party:

Big storms kept us inside for the party.

Aunt Sarah was SUPER NICE and made Emery's smush cake and the cupcakes. So cute and so good- she should go into business!

My mom got the hat and bib off of Etsy - sunshinedaydream4u. Really cute!

Party favors - dark chocolate covered pretzels

Gift tags were from Etsy - Toadally Cute Products

I made these stuffed owls as party favors for the cousins. Owen and Eme didn't have Little Hoot, either, so I had to give them that. Great book!

Eating lunch - grilled sausages, orzo pasta, and fruit salad.

As always, she cleaned her plate.

And she demolished the cake. I'm still getting the after effects in her diaper.

Good thing birthdays only happen once a year.

Stuffed owls

My little Emery is turning one this Saturday and I was pretty excited to do an owl-themed party. We're doing a luncheon with the family and I thought I could make stuffed owls for all the kiddos as party favors. I went to Etsy and bought this pattern from dandy jane. It was REALLY easy and I got a lot of my fabric scraps put to use, so I didn't have to buy anything except the stuffing.

Here is a picture of my little guys:

The last ones I made (two in the middle) are my favorite - I think it takes me a while to get my creative juices flowing in terms of picking out fabrics (hardest part about sewing!). I had those in mind for my nephew and niece, Owen and Eme, but with them being 5 and 3, who knows which owls they'll end up with and which ones will be pawned off to Woodburn and Emery.

I'll post pictures of the party next week. I got some cute stuff off of Etsy which I'll link up, as well.

Happy Hooting!

Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni

So, first I have to say I've been the WORST blogger in the world this year and I'm gonna try and get back into it. Although, I think I said this about 6 months ago, so we'll see...

Anyways, tonight I'm giving it a shot again and decided to write about a favorite childhood meal. I've been craving all my childhood favorite dinners lately and tonight I made one of them for Emery. I've honestly thought about making this meal for my kids for YEARS so I was pretty excited that Emery got to eat it along with me tonight.

The favorite meal I'm talking about is Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni which was always served with peas and crescent rolls at my house. Elton DESPISES this dinner and refuses to be in the house when I make it. I knew he would be working late tonight so I decided to get this craving out of my system.

As a lot of you know, I've tried to stay away from processed foods as much as possible the past few years so I was pretty excited when I was at Earth Fare and found Organic Annie's Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper AND Immaculent Baking Company crescent rolls. I thought that if I picked up some organic peas, as well, this meal wouldn't be TOO bad for us.

This won't be so bad for us - it's ALL NATURAL! :)

Here are our dinners ready to eat.

My first serving. (Should have just stuck with that.)

Emery's serving

Emery gives it a try.

No surprise to me, she loved it and cleaned her plate! Guess we'll get to eat more of this in the future. Thanks Organic Annie's and Immaculate Baking Company for making healthier versions of my childhood favorites!

Happy Hamburger Helper!

Tiring Tuesdays

Emery goes to “school” on Tuesday mornings, which I love because I can actually be productive. I go to bed every Monday night excited about all the things I’m going to get done the next morning and I go to bed every Tuesday night more exhausted than ever and still feeling like there is way too much to do.

Today’s mission: Clean out the kitchen cabinets

I’m trying to pack up as much stuff as I can to put in storage before we list our house. I figure I can go a few months without a few things and this way there will be less clutter in the house and less to pack when our moving day arrives (if it ever does).

Here are some tips I learned though out the day:

• If you don’t know what it is – throw it out or donate it.
• Any Tupperware pieces that don’t match up or don’t fit in your cabinets – throw it out or donate.
• If you haven’t used the kitchen gadget in the past year – give it away.
• You really don’t need more than ten dishtowels – throw your ratty ones out.
• Pots and pans you never use anymore – give them away. (I always use the same four pots and pans and I had bought a couple of cheapo ones in the past that I clearly didn’t need to keep).
• Stop saving all those paper bags. I never bake cookies that often and that’s the only thing I use them for. It looks junky!
• Use fabric bags for groceries – it’s better for the planet and you don’t have all those plastic ones hanging around.

If you’re one of those people who can’t throw things out or give things away, I suggest you pack some of the above items in a box and see if you miss them over the next few months. If you do, go ahead, take it back out. If not, toss it or donate it.

Here are some before and after pics:

Before

After

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After

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After

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After

Before

After

My non-napping, yet adorable Emery who keeps me from

getting things done around here all week.

Good thing she is cute

and worth all the attention she gets.

Grill tip

I was watching Food Network or Cooking Channel (can't remember which channel or which show) the other week and I heard a chef say, "The meat will tell you when it's ready to be flipped." I've never heard this. They said if the meat is still sticking then it's not ready to be flipped. Well, I've grilled about 4 or 5 times since I heard this tip and found it to be very true. I've always been one to flip the meat too early and then half of it sticks on the grill or grill pan and then I have to flip it again... Well, now, I just wait until it doesn't stick to flip and I also wait to take it off until the other side doesn't stick either. I've found every piece of meat to be perfectly cooked since I learned this trick. You all may have already known this, but clearly I didn't. Thank goodness for cooking channels!

My perfectly grilled mahi mahi and salad for lunch. Yum!

Candles New Again

Before

After

I love candles and I got a bunch of them from my mom last year for my birthday in these pretty botanical jars. They got really dirty (I think you're supposed to trim the wick every time before you light them so the black stuff doesn't get on the sides???) so I researched how I could clean them up and reuse them. It was REALLY easy.

1) Put them in the freezer.

2) Use a knife to pull out any left over wax.

3) Wash.

See how easy! Now I can put tea candles in them or maybe even use them as a vase.

FYI - Emery has been crying/playing/crying during the whole process of cleaning them and typing up this blog. Ahhhhh! Guess that shows how quick this takes? It usually takes her about 30 minutes to get to sleep for a nap. And she's asleep- time to relax with a big glass of wine, I think. Happy Sunday!

Frame your necklaces

I got this idea while flipping through the latest Ballard Designs catalog and knew this would be REALLY easy to make myself. I've been wanting to find a cool way to hang my necklaces and I already had the frame and fabric. All I had to do was go out and buy the hooks, which I found at Target.

First, I ironed the fabric that I already had on hand and stapled it on the back of some cardboard that fit my frame. Next, I arranged the necklaces, screwed in the hooks and secured them with masking tape. So easy! If I ever have a store and I have jewelry to sell, I think I'll display all the necklaces in frames.