[diy] Mini Mason Gift Jars

Bad blogger... I thought I had scheduled a post for Friday before we went out of town this weekend, but I realized I hadn't finished it yet... and then yesterday, I was busy prepping our house for visitors for the evening... so my MWF post schedule was messed up. Yikes! But here I am today with what was supposed to go up yesterday... Onward!

This weekend, my mom, aunt, and I coordinated a bridal shower for my cousin and his fiance! They are getting married at the end of the month and are so super precious, so we were excited for the opportunity!

 

One of the tasks delegated to me was creating party favors for the guests. My mom and I use Pinterest to the MAX when it comes time to plan a party or event, and this was no exception. We found a few cute gift jars and decided that's what we would do.

Luckily, my friend's mom is a pro-canner of all jams, jellies, and pickles (and I'm sure other items), so I enlisted her help! She found us the CAHUTEST (word?) mini mason jars and helped us create apple jelly for the shower. I don't have a specific recipe to share with you all, but you do need a jelly/jam machine (pictured below while I measure out sugar like a boss)... I don't have a machine like that, but I hope to acquire one day because it is super fun! We even sampled the jelly (quality control, you see) on English muffins... yum!

After we canned the jelly and the lids were sealed, my mom and I found the ::perfect:: shade of peach (the wedding colors) fabric to use in the lid, and then we used twine and a "thank you" gift tag found on, of course, Pinterest at the website Oh So Very Pretty (free printable!). We purchased a tag punch-out from JoAnn's, and in a flash, our mini mason gift jars were done!

Aren't they cute?! My mom kept telling the guests, "Chrissy made that HOMEMADE apple jelly!" She is so sweet: gotta love a mom who continues to talk you up and brag on you, even as an adult! Blessed.

Do you like to host showers? What kind of favors, if any, do you create? See more of the DIY Gift Ideas I have found through Pinterest.

Have a great week!

[celebrate] Happy 4th of July!

We are a blessed nation to have the freedoms we have daily :) Thank you to all who are serving to protect those freedoms: we know that freedom is not free, and you all are a blessing to our country! May God continue to bless our country, our leaders, and our communities!

A few snippets from our 4th of July celebration, which started yesterday on the 3rd! The celebration will continue today as well!

*paper straws from World Market
*red/white/blue action within our silverware
*pretzel sticks and peanuts coated in white chocolate and red/white/blue sprinkles
*red/white/blue daisies from Walmart
*red vines wrapped in red/white/blue ribbon

Have a wonderful day celebrating our country! Remember that TRUE freedom comes through Christ, and it is through Him that we are able to have access to God, our Father in Heaven! Thank you Lord for Your wonderful mercy, love, and grace!

"Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God's presence." Ephesians 3:12

[make] Two Mexican Favorites

*Sorry I've been MIA this week: I've had sinus congestion like no other this week and have been crashing as soon as I get home from work due to pressure headaches, sore throat, and nasal congestion.... UGH! Hoping to kick it soon...

Our church holds monthly luncheons following the morning worship service as a time of fellowship for our congregation. A theme is set and everyone is invited to bring a dish, potluck-style, to go with the theme. This past Sunday, we had a Mexican theme: a few members brought enchiladas, dips, beans, and rice, but we opted to go another route with two Mexican favorites... well, one is a favorite of Nate's (I don't eat it because it has beans and I don't like beans... Or olives... Or sour cream... Ha!) and the other was a Pinterest find from here.

This casserole dish uses the following:
2 lbs. ground beef
Rice (I used one package of the Taco Rice made by Fiesta Sides... I think)
Onions (1 cup)
Enchilada sauce (1 can)
Doritos Nacho Cheese chips (1 bag, depending on how much you like)
Grated cheese (There's is no such thing as too much cheese!)
(it also has beans, but I don't like beans, so feel free to add them!)

Saute the onions with the beef. After it's done cooking, combine, in a bowl, the meat, onions, rice, sauce, chips, and cheese. Put mixture in a baking dish: top with more chips and cheese. 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes! See the Pinterest link above for more details.

This is Nate's favoriteee thing. Layer refried beans, black beans, sour cream, salsa, grated cheese, olives, green onions. You can also add guacamole but we didn't have any avocados at the time. Easy peasy!

And Nate and I like to pose with our creations... Yep, we're those people.

Who loves Mexican food? Favorite dish?

Happy Thursday! TOMORROW'S THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! 10am and it's HELLOOO SUMMER TIME! Can't believe it!

"I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul." Psalm 31:7

[life] Happy Birthday....

... dear Oliver, happy birthday to you!

Yep. Little Man turned three on Monday.
Yep. I made him a homemade party hat with elastic.
Yep. He received frozen, homemade birthday treats.
Yep. We are THOSE pet owners.

Would anyone like the frozen pet treat recipe? I found it on Pinterest from here. Here's what I did, and don't worry, humans can eat it too (although I didn't try it) so if you don't have a pup, maybe you just want this snack for yourself? To each his own!

Mix these ingredients together: 32oz plain yogurt, 1 mashed ripe banana, 2 tablespoons peanut butter, 2 tablespoons honey...

Drop in an egg carton or ice tray...

Tempt your dog...

Store the rest in a freezable container... tempt your dog some more...

Place in freezer...

Get your pups excited when the time has come to taste...

Take blurry pictures because the sweet treat was gobbled up in an instant! Happy birthday!

I know, I know. I need a kid. Ha! But until that moment comes, my pups will suit me just fine!

Happy Wednesday!

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity." Proverbs 17:17

[love] Gender Reveal Party

Before you get excited, no I am not pregnant.

Last weekend, my friend Bonnie had her gender reveal party for HER pregnancy. I helped with decorations and therefore she said I could blog about it! You KNOW you have a good friend when she knows what you like to blog about! Ha!

Her dad is a coach and her family is full of sports fanatics. It was fitting to have a football themed gender reveal party! Everything from the invitations (ordered from Etsy), the decor, and even the food all had football twists added to them. The name of the game was "Team Pink" vs. "Team Blue"! So cute, right?

She enlisted me to help her with decorations the week of the party. I busted out my Silhouette and we got to cutting, gluing, and all of the wonderfulness that goes with crafting. We also made poufs (which you know I love to make)!

At the party, the way Bonnie and her husband shared the gender was with cake! They gave the sonogram (which they had not seen yet) to a baker and she dyed the cake batter pink or blue, depending on if it was a boy or girl.

I wore pink to the party (Team Pink) and Nate wore blue (Team Blue): this is how everyone shared which "team" they were on! Adorable!

Getting ready to cut the cake... what will it be, pink or blue?

 It's a...

BOY! Do you see the blue cake on the table? Precious! It was such a sweet moment, so glad I was there to share it with Bonnie and her family!

So excited to welcome a bouncing baby boy in February! Congratulations you two! Thank you for inviting Nate and I to such a special moment in your lives!

Love us! She is such a sweet and dear friend to me!

Have a wonderful Monday!

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8

How To Pouf

Remember how I asked for help on conquering the pouf?

Well you delivered. Through suggestions and the ever-helpful Pinterest, I was able to make adorable poufs and decorate my cousin's wedding shower accordingly.

Now you can make your own poufs too! Here's how.

I used a 10-pack of tissue paper to make one pouf. You can use more/less tissue depending on how round you want your pouf to be.

Stack them altogether, like so.

Start folding them accordion style... back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Make sure to keep it even! Mine kept trying to separate, grrr.

Side shot.

Use floral wire to secure the middle of your pouf.

Like so.

Depending on how you want your ends to be, cut accordingly. I wanted rounded petals, so I cut mine like so. You could also do pointy ends if you wanted to.

After cutting, you will carefully separate each tissue, pulling it out and "floofing" it as you go. Then you should get something along these lines:

Here are the poufs in action: we used string to attach the pouf to the chandelier in the dining room (we tied the string to the floral wire in the middle of the pouf).

Small cost. Big impact!

Happy Monday! I have to go to the dentist today for a follow-up (the dentist wasn't there when I last went... the dental hygienist had a look around but now the dentist has to also). So womp womp about that, but otherwise have a lovely day!

See where I link up: What I Whipped Up Wednesday @ Sugar and Dots, Craft-O-Manic Monday @ Craft-O-Manic, Link Party @ Uncommon, Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts, Show Me What Ya Got Linky Party @ Not JUST A Housewife, {Wow Me Wednesday} @ Ginger Snap Crafts, Link Party @ Destination: Craft, The Creative Spark @ Clean & Scentsible, Before & After Party @ Thrifty Decor Chick, Weekend Wrap-Up Party @ Tatertots and Jello, What I Wore Wednesday @ The Pleated Poppy 

Wedding Shower

I am sailing the Caribbean this week, so my posts will be random and sporadic. Enjoy!

This past Sunday, my mom, aunt, and I worked together to host a shower for my cousin (Josh) and his bride-to-be, Emily. I shared a post about ideas that I wanted to incorporate and another post about how I wanted to master "the pouf" for decorations. Now you get to see the real enchilada! Enjoy!

Table pre-goodies

Poufs. Conquered.

My mom purchased fabric from Hobby Lobby to make the table cloth. Their wedding colors are pink/purple/green, so we incorporated these colors throughout the table.

These green flowers were so fun!

Pink "candy sticks" (kind of sweet/pepperminty like a candy cane... but in a stick shape)

Cupcake stand! I made the cupcake toppers with an "S" for their last name. Stay tuned for a tutorial on how to make your own!

Close up.

The lovely bride! With all the food set out and ready to go. We had:
Pink lemonade in tall glasses w/pink straws
Fruit kabobs with grapes, pineapple, watermelon, and cantaloupe
Strawberries
Mini pigs in a blanket (YUMMM)
Veggies with ranch
Punch (orange sherbet, ginger ale, sprite)

The bride with her sister-to-be on the left (Josh's little sister, Sarah) and with her other sister-to-be (Josh's brother's- another cousin- girlfriend, who hopefully will get engaged to my cousin SOON so we can throw a shower for her!) Brittany. Did I confuse you enough?

The bride and groom 

Sign in table with guestbook and photos

Close up of table (after people started grabbin' snacks)

Yum yum! Party guests gettin' their grub on.

Getting ready to open gifts....

With the hostesses (my aunt Linda, cousin Josh, cousin-to-be Emily, ME in the skirt I sewed, my mom)

 Happy shower hosting! Is it me, or is your summer full of baby/wedding/lingerie showers? Wowza!