Luke's Construction Party

 

 

We all had a fantastic time at Luke's 3rd Birthday this week.  I thought I'd share a few highlights from the big day!  The kids "checked- in" here and picked up their tool belt ($0.71 each at Home Depot) and their hard hat.  Their tool boxes, filled with shredded CAUTION ribbon, a dollar store tape measure, truck eraser, road sign sucker and snacks, went home with them after the party.  My tool box fillers and hard hats came from Oriental Trading Company.   I wrote instructions with a black sharpie on large smooth rocks.  I love the "Hard Hat Area" signs I found on Amazon.  My wonderful sister made the "Happy Birthday Luke" sign.

 

Construction Site Cake!

 





My sweet Luke.  The plaid shirt really plays into the outfit, and I didn't even plan it.  I love that he's 3 and he still has little wrist links.

 

The Spread: brats, veggie dogs, hot dogs with wheat and white buns and the fixings, cheese, sausage and cracker tray, veggie kabobs (cherry tomato, cheese, cucumber), fruit kabobs (strawberry, mellon, pineapple), Recee's Pieces, Raisinets, marshmallow "cake" pops, lots of different kinds of chips, cheese puffs, pretzels and snacks from trader joes, pickles, apple juice boxes, bottled water, and 3 kinds of soads on ice, pickles, cake and ice cream.

 

 

The Baby Tent: I set up my EZ up (from when I sold my paintings in summer art fairs, pre-children) Pack and Play outfitted with toys and a balloon for containment while parents ate or visited, soft chairs for moms, blanket on the grass, etc.

 

 

 

Babies!

For entertainment we set up a few stations for the kids to explore.  Here is the duplo station.  I used home depot buckets with a ballon tied on each one to mark each station.  Other stations: 10 dollar store spray bottles filled with water (it was pretty hot out and I just had them all set on "mist"), a bubble machine in a wheel barrow, a tarp with a pile of imagibricks for making and smashing towers, and inside was a linclon log station and a wood block station (we love our Melissa and Doug wood blocks from Nina and Papa).

A lot of the kids actually wore their tool belts and hats almost the whole time! I added some puffy paint decorations on the tool belts of the little girls.

Opening gifts: Trucks, Trucks, and more Trucks!  Luke was thrilled!

 

 

 

 

Another sweet year has come and gone in my life as a mother.  Joel says I really make too much of a fuss for birthdays, but I'm not just celebrating another year in Luke's life.  I'm also throwing a party for me and my friends and family, celebrating the Lord's blessings through another year of parenting!  Congratulations on turning 3 Sweet Luke!  And well done Grammie and Grandpa, Mommy and Daddy, and Nina and Papa, Aunties and Uncles, on another year of raising Lukey!



Make a No-Sew Bunting

I made this bunting banner out of Sophia's outgrown clothes for three specific reasons.  Number one was to create a keepsake of the outfits she used to wear.  Second, I used it for a decoration for the dining room table for her Baby Dedication luncheon. And thirdly, it now serves as a decoration in her bedroom above her crib.

Here's how you make a bunting from baby clothes!

What You'll Need:

Old Baby Clothes

Tag Board Tracer

Fabric scissors

Double Wide Bias Tape

Spray Starch

Iron

Fabri-Tac Glue

First decide how large you want each triangle on the bunting to be.  Cut a triangle template out of heavy tag board to be your tracing guide on every piece of clothing.  Lay the tracer on the clothing.  Trace the triangle and cut it out.  If you want the bunting to be two-sided then make sure you are cutting two triangles of fabric at the same time.  Above you can see that I left the baby pajamas snapped up so when I cut it out, I'll have two triangles of fabric cut at the same time.  I like to include the snaps to add interest to each triangle of the bunting, and so you know it was made from Sophia's pajamas. 

As soon as the triangles are cut out, I glue the point of the triangles together so they don't shift or loose their pair during the ironing process, but only glue the tip of the triangles so the fabric will have room to be smoothed out with the iron and not wrinkle or bunch up.  I use Fabri-Tac Glue made by Beacon Adhesives.  It is amazingly powerful and has replaced my hot glue gun for all fabric, lace, leather and trim.  I love love love this stuff.  As you can see in the photo, it even "strings" like hot glue...but no burns!

 

After each triangle is thoroughly starched and ironed, glue the edges together all around.  Then simply glue each triangle into the fold of the long bias tape.  I glued two 3ft sections of bias tape together to get the length I wanted.

Now it has a permanent home in Sophia's nursery. 

Homemade Baby Food Made Easy

I made just about all of Luke's baby food when he was a baby and now I'm doing the same for Sophia.  It's all about getting my food budget to stretch a little farther. I can't afford to purchase all organic pre-made baby food, so I just make it myself!   I don't need to make nearly as much this time around though, because Sophia eats like a bird (and is still gaining about 2 lbs a month)!  5 minutes of nursing and she's done and fine for 3-4 hours.  1/2 jar of food and she's disinterested.  It's so surprising for me, because Luke would consistently nurse for 30 minutes straight and down two jars of food at each sitting!

I keep my baby food making very simple. 

I only have three guidelines : Organic and Easy and Cost Effective

To fit into those three guidelines, I keep my food selection for the babies very limited.  I only make and feed them the following:

-carrots
-sweet potatoes
-peas
-mango
-apples (I don't make these anymore...I purchase large jars of organic non-sweetened apple sauce)
I don't make apples because it is more cost effective for me to buy organic non-sweetened apple sauce at Trader Joes than it is for me to purchase organic apples + peel, cook, blend and jar them.

This time around with Sophia I may venture into chicken and rice and bananas.  I'll keep you posted if I do.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

Baby Food Jars---I started by purchasing about 30 jars of baby food so I could have the jars for future use.  Luke ate the food, I removed the labels, and used goo-gone to remove all the sticky left behind. (I love goo-gone and my one bottle has lasted me two years so far and it's only half gone.)

Your Usual Pots and Pans--No need to purchase any special cooking pans

Immersion Blender--I asked for this for Christmas right after Luke was born.  I got the Cuisinart CSB-77 Smart Stick Hand Blender with Whisk and Chopper Attachments, and I absolutely love it.  But any immersion blender will do just fine.  I also use my immersion blender for making all my smoothies and soups (cauliflower soup, etc).  It's one of my most-used appliances.

CARROTS AND PEAS

Wash carrots. Cut stems off and discard. Chop carrots and boil them in a large pot on Medium High heat for about 20 minutes.  For peas, just pour frozen peas into boiling water.  Pour off most of the water and save in a large Pyrex measuring cup (this water has vitamins and minerals in it).  Use a hand immersion blender to mash and blend the carrots or peas into smooth baby food.  Add back the drained carrot or pea water to attain desired consistency.  Spoon into baby jars.  Let cool for 15 min.  Put lids on and place in the freezer.  Pull out and thaw in the refrigerator as needed.  The peas tend to have a rough texture compared to store-bought baby food peas.  I'm going to experiment with dried split peas to see if I can achieve a smoother consistency.  I'll keep you posted.

SWEET POTATOES

Wash potatoes and stab each with a knife about 8 times.  Line a baking sheet with tin foil for easy clean-up.  Place potatoes on the foil and bake at 350 for 1 hour.  Let cool for 15 min.  Cut open and scoop potato into a bowl.  Discard skins.  Add filtered water to the potatoes while blending them with the immersion blender to attain desired consistency.  Spoon into baby jars.  Let cool for 15 min.  Put lids on and place in the freezer.  Pull out and thaw in the refrigerator as needed.

MANGO
I purchase bags of frozen mango from Trader Joes.  I let them thaw overnight in the refrigerator.  Pour them into a bowl and blend with immersion blender.  Add filtered water to attain desired consistency.  Spoon into baby jars.  Put lids on and place in the freezer.  Pull out and thaw in the refrigerator as needed.

These methods will work with pears, berries, apples, and many others!  Experiment!  I use only these limited foods because I like to keep it simple and I can buy them organic and make them into baby food for less money than buying them as organic pre-made baby food.

Girly Headband Organization

Since before my 5 month old daughter, Sophia, was born, I've been collecting headbands for her; piles and piles of satiny, sparkly, flowery headbands to wrap around her smooth, fuzzy head. But that is where they have remained...in a pile.  Until this week!  My friend Alex, from Dallas, was visiting and she and I made a fun, girly, headband holder that looks adorable on Sophie's dresser.  Her most frequently used headbands are lined up on the outside of the holder and the extra headbands are stored inside.

I gathered up an empty oatmeal container, two onsies in cute patterns that Sophia had outgrown, some scraps of ribbon I had laying around from my scrapbooking days, scissors, and fabric glue.   I use Beacon Fabri-Tac, fabric glue, and it works just as good, if not better than a hot glue gun. I cut the onsie fabric to fit the container and the lid separately, glued it on, and glued on some ribbon and bows for some girly flair.  The headbands, once placed on the organizer, really add most of the cuteness and hide any flaws in the decoration of the container.  It's  budget friendly, fool-proof way to bring yourself a little bit of lovely orderliness.  Ahhh.

Sophia Modeling One of Her Many Headbands