Texas Bluebonnets

One of my most wonderful dear old friends is our family photographer...check her out here WantedPhotography. We had an appointment with her for a bluebonnet picture shoot. Due to our crazy ever changing schedule we had to cancel. I was so disappointed that we wouldn't get that infamous Texas Bluebonnet picture. I decided if I can't have the real thing then I'll have second best, I'll shoot it. No fancy camera. Just me and my Sony hand held digital camera I bought at Target for $70.00. I found a place in Plano at the JCPenneys corporate headcourters, that still had a few bluebonnets left. They were sparse but better than nothing. 

Saint Patricks Day

After having a busy few last weeks, I'm just now uploading pics of my son, Kannon, from St. Patty's Day. Just a few shots on our front porch. Better late than never.
I used app PicTapGo and filter SweetTooth

A Mothers Message

Face lift for the guest bath

Okay let's face it, every once in awhile we are all ready for a change...a lift. I decided to start with our guest bath. The shower curtain that had lived in my guest bath I had bought back in 2008, and was no longer me at all. I found the perfect, and reasonably priced shower curtain at Target which happened to be on sale. Found here but only available in store. All I needed was a few finishing touches and drum roll......

The outdated before...

Now all I need to find is a colorful rug. I'm thinking yellow or turquoise.

The ladder I found at Tradedays.

Towels are from anthropologie and Target

Do you have any plans for a face lift in the home?

NATIONAL SIBLING DAY

Who knew right?? But today is National Sibling Day. Being the youngest had its perks for sure, and I was lucky to have such a great older sister and brother. Unfortunately my brother, David, went to be with our Lord when I was 13. I think of him everyday and named my son, his middle name after him. I miss you David and you are always in my heart. 

Not even knowing what today was, my son, while sitting on his changing table, insisted on playing with a baseball that sits on his shelf in his room. I told him that was uncle Davies , you can't play with it. He really started to cry, point in its direction and scream ball. I reluctantly picked it up and gave it to him. I put him down and he ran into the living room. I watched him carefully, out of fear he would throw and break something. He ran to the ottoman and just held the ball, so softly and sweetly. He just held it and watched his shows. I couldn't help buy cry, I just felt he knew the importance of that ball. I managed to get a pic of it and I'm sharing it with you. Such a beautiful moment for me. My son holding something that once belonged to the man I looked up to and miss everyday. It was priceless.

St. Patrick's day decor

In honor of my husband being a 100% Black Irish, I'm Scottish, I decided last minute to throw something together for the big Irish day! A trip to Home goods always comes through. There I found a great large burlap, I'm obsessed with burlap, covered in green polka dots. Who doesn't love polka dots? Luckily there is a Target next door to my local Home Goods and I remember seeing a nice selection of St. Patick's Day decor. Of course since we are days away, it was already on clearance. But the Target Gods were good to me, and I found 2 pieces for only $7.00. The pillow was $16.99 and everything else I already had...so not to shabby for last minute throw together.

Recipe-Stuffed peppers

Here's a quick and easy recipe for healthy family dinner.

Prep time-5-10 minutes
Cook time-20 minutes

What you will need-
4-8 green, red, orange or yellow peppers (I use 4 green, doesn't matter the color, the taste is the same for all colors)
1 medium white onion
2 fresh medium tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper( I prefer Celtic salt)
Taco seasoning pack (any brand will do)

Pre heat oven to 350

Cut off the top part of pepper and pull out stem and seeds

Place in boiling water for 5 minutes

Cook meat over medium heat with seasoning

In a separate skillet on medium-low heat combine olive oil, onions, garlic for about 3 minutes

Last minute add tomatoes

Then add meat for another 2 minutes or so

Spoon filling into peppers

Cover with foil and bake for 12-15 minutes

Cover peppers with cheese and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until golden.

I served the stuffed peppers with Spanish rice and avocados. It was delicious. Even my chef husband approved. 

Easter decor galore

Here at the Little House, we love to decorate for every occasion. I've been dying to get started on it, and I just couldn't wait anymore.

This is in my front hallway across from Kannons playroom.

I love to pick up thrifted finds and use them for my holiday and everyday use. Bird pillow I found at Home Goods, rabbit pillow I found thrifting in downtown Mckinney and the turquoise children's chair I found at Trade Days from my all time favorite vendor TheRustedChandelier 

Easter garland courtesy of target

This is next to my kitchen, it's just an area that always seemed neglected so our old but not vintage chest has taken over. A few items from target, homegoods and wholefoods seems to do the trick.

Our mantle is a little more low key. It's always changing and swapping out items. 

This great bunny I found at Home Goods for a reasonable price. At first he kind of scared me, now I love him!

I try to choose one of a kind pieces or unusual pieces. It seems to make more of a lasting impression and keeps the conversation going. What are your favorites?

Easter gift tutorial

I recently saw this great Easter gift/decor on Pinterest. I immediately went to my local target for supplies. This would be great to give as gifts or just a simple decoration for the house, maybe even for a centerpiece for Easter lunch or dinner. Here is the original...

I created basically the same thing, for a cheap price...
Here's what you will need...
Mason jars-I had plenty on hand, you can never have too many mason jars, so free
Candy-I went with M&M's Bunny Mix at $2.89(I used less than half of bag)
M&M'S chocolate eggs at 2.89(I used only a few eggs, rest are for you to enjoy)
Palmer Baby Binks Bunny at $1.00
Green crinkle grass at $1.50 per package

A few simple steps and done. Cute and cute!

I chose not to use ribbon, but it looks cute either way. A super cheap, fun and edible addition to Easter. Enjoy!

Co-Hosting a Baby Shower

After being asked to co-host my dear friends baby shower I instantly thought of my son's first birthday. I went a little out of control and went a little overboard with his party. At the time, It didnt seem a little overboard, but looking back I could have scaled back a bit. Anyway, It was a great party and I thought I would recap on that event while planning my next party.

First things first...Pick a Theme. I went with a Nautical theme mainly because my son's birthday is at the end of summer, it was super hot and we wantedt a pool party.

Second...go over your guest list. Make sure not to leave anyone out. Just like planning a wedding, you need a head count to plan the menu, how much you will need and party favors.

Once you have the guest list, I would start on the decorations. This is what took me the longest. I was lucky enough to be planning this in the middle of summer. So every resource I used, like Hobby Lobby and Home Goods, I was able to find plenty of nautical decor. It took a few trips here and there but I found most of what I needed and everything else I found while thirfting.

I knew I wanted a candy bar and a dessert table..along with the food bar. Here are a few pics of each.

The Dessert Table...accented with burlap, ballons and pictures of Kannon

 

The Candy Bar. I bought all the vases from Home Goods, wrapped them in burlap and glued the nametags on them. Its all in the details.

 

 

 

 

If you dont't have the tools or good printer to make all the dcorations yourself, I highly recommend going to Etsy. I made a few of the decorations myself, but since I only had less than 2 months to plan this I went to Etsy. I found this great shop http://www.etsy.com/people/ALLthatsPretty

that was incredibly helpful. She walked me through everything I would need and was very patient with me. She made the experience that much better.

 

The Dessert Menu...Sweets for my sweet

 

The cake, cookies and chocolate covered oreos I ordered from Sweet Art Bakery. My sister in las has used them many times, and they always deliver. http://www.sweetartbakery.com/

 

 

Like I said, I went a little overboard. I wanted my son to be able to look back on these pictures and think, Wow...my Mom threw an awesome party for me. Mission accomplished.

Just a few more candid moments from the party. All of which were taken by my family photographer, a dear friend, and a mother of two... https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/wantedphotography/115979041768291

 

All party favors came from the $1.00 section at Target and the bags came from Oriental Trading Company.

Picture Frame from Babies R Us for all the guests to sign.

The Birthday Boy. I ordered his Birthday shirt from etsy also... http://www.etsy.com/people/PocketBaby

 

It was such a fun party, and we have a lot of great memories to enjoy for a lifetime. You don't always have to have such a big production. Perhaps just pick the big milestones...1st birthday, 5th birthday, 10th birthday and 16th birthday...but whatever you choose, Remember its all in the details.

I can't wait to get started on the baby shower. Picking themes we go...

 

 If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Thanks for reading!

Much love and God Bless

Jenn