Homemade Invitations

I have always had a love for stationary, cards, anything paper! When I was a child, I loved collecting stickers...I had numerous sticker albums filled with lots of fun stickers! And, I always loved going to camp and getting new pen pals! Writing letters was such a fun hobby - and picking out the stationary or card was just as much fun...return address labels, cute stamps, you name it - and, I loved it! And, still do...cute paper, cards, labels - anything paper makes me smile...I always say, maybe one day I'll learn more about graphic design...But, for now, I'll look for ways to be creative:)

For Elisea's birthday, we had a small party with her church friends...I knew I wanted to do a pancake and pajama party...LOVED the idea when I saw it online a while back...what could be better, kids waking up and heading over in their pj's!

My PRO list for a similar party:
1. Parents don't have to change their children out of their pj's!
2. Children 3 and under are usually most happy in the morning!
3. Pancakes are an economical choice when planning on a budget and super-fun to do w/children with all the fun toppings!
4. And, that could mean an omelette bar and coffee for the parents! Which is also budget friendly:)
5. A morning party means it's over by lunch which gives you as a family the rest of the day together!

So, as you can tell, I was super-excited about this party...and, even though I knew I could tell our friends by word of mouth, I still love a cute invitation! Just one of those things that I find joy in...So, I started looking online...

These were all adorable options I found...And, I love etsy and have used it before for invitations.

 via etsy

via etsy

via etsy

But, for budget friendly purposes, I decided I would try and make our own.
And, this is what I came up with...nothing incredibly special,
but pretty cute I think.

First,  I opened Word and changed my document size to 5x7.

Next, I added 2 columns onto the document.

I then googled for a pancake graphic image.

And, found this one:

via google

Then, I just typed the invitation.  I had previously downloaded the fun fonts
I used from here.  I had this pack of plain white greeting cards, so I used these
 to print the invitation on...you could also use a regular piece of cardstock.

 I had this pink cardstock leftover from Elisea's first birthday, so I cut it to the
right size and used it for the back of the invitation.

Lastly, I grabbed this ribbon I've had for years, and cut two strips and taped
them down using the scrapbook adhesives - love these squares!

End Result:

So, next time you have a party and need invitations, check out your own supplies first! It really is fun to think of ways to create something using only
what you already have...especially if you enjoy making things!
 Here's for inspiration! 

"I not 2, I 3!"

Where have the days gone?! We celebrated our big girl's 3rd birthday this past week...And, what a special day it was! So much could be said about our sweet blessing...the new life she brought into our lives the day she was born...the gifts of hope, faithfulness and joy that re-rooted themselves into our lives...as a result of her life and the Lord's love being poured on Aaron and I...

 When deciding on her name, we came across Elisea - a Hebrew name (female form of Elisha) meaning, "God is salvation;protect my health." And, therefore, the perfect name for our #2 girl...Claire was a name I've always loved, and it means "bright." So, we welcomed to the world our blessed, healthy and oh, so bright, Elisea Claire.

Elisea's first days...

 Elisea's 1st Birthday

 Elisea's 2nd Birthday

Elisea's 3rd Birthday

 Yes, that is a chip clip holding back all that hair she has!
Ha! It's her morning-do:)

 Our 2 girls...love it when they play together:)

 Our sweet LiLi and the birthday girl

 That beautiful hair!

Her Pink Princess Castle Cake that she insisted on - after viewing the Lego Cake I had picked out (because she loves Legos and it looked super-easy!), she spotted this one in the sidebar - soooo, the pink castle cake it was! thanks to bettycrocker.com for the recipe and detailed directions!

My first cake ever to make as well! Thanks to Granddad and LiLi for their assistance!

Our girls - cute as buttons...Mom and Dad - exhausted!

Fun night at chuckecheese...yes, one of those things I said I would never do as a parent...haha! I must say, it is hard with winter birthdays...can't have much outdoor fun:(

And, Saturday morning we had a friend party - a pancake and pajama party! So fun! Elisea's church buddies showed up in their pj's and we had fun toppings for the pancakes and did omelettes and coffee for the adults.

One of the most fun things is picking out the "fun stuff" for the party! 

I love it...

Big girl's mickey mouse pancake w/yummy toppings:)

Sweet Julia

Fun times...memories in the making...and truly blessed indeed...

Happy Birthday to our sweet, Elisea Claire.

"For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever and His faithfulness to all generations."

Psalm 100:5

Yum-O Dinner

Every now and then, I get in the mood to try something new.  Thanks to Pinterest, my mouth is usually drooling after I see something yummy pinned on there site...and of course, then pin it to my board. :)
So, for dinner tonight, I made Chicken Cashew Lettuce Wraps.  Super-easy and super-yummy.

via shewearsmanyhats

I remember having these a couple years ago at P. F. Chang's.  And, loved them!  So, we created our own at home tonight thanks to this recipe! Can we say, Yum-O?!

Since I knew this would be a little spicy for the girls, it was easy to just take some extra chicken and cook it in an extra pan with some carrots.  Then, we added some brown rice and green beans on the side for all of us. Fun, pretty healthy, and tasty dinner night!

warning...site under construction

With the start of the new year, I am ready to change this blog a little bit...so, fair warning that as I learn the in's and out's of blog world, the state of the blog may be crazy at times! Here we go...

Winter Wreath

So, for Christmas I made this felt wreath. 

Pinterest has been an amazing outlet for inspiration! I saw this idea here. And thought, that looks doable, affordable, colorful and fun! And usually, I don't tend toward lots of colors...I'm usually a gray, black and white kind of gal. But, I loved this wreath for some reason. I think I like the "moderness" of it. Mine came out a little "bumpy" as you can tell by the pics because I used a straw wreath under the felt (only type of wreath I had on hand). A foam wreath would have created a smoother finish like this one below.

Via Urban Comfort

So, even though our living and dining room look like this I've still got my thoughts on a wreath...

Before this gets tackled, I'm just going to dream for a minute. I think I have my favorite decided, this bubble burlap wreath. But, then I'm fearful that by the time I get it made, it will be spring! Ha! So, we'll see what ends up going on our front door...not a big deal I know...Here is some inspiration though.

Via Etsy

Via Etsy

 Via Etsy

I figured it is best to be honest and expose all states of this parsonage! I must say it is hard to put up Christmas decorations and such with 1 toddler and 1 baby at my feet!