Time to Party!

I love an excuse to throw a party.
Birthday Party ideas:
1) Ice cream party
2) Fairy party tutus included
3) Tonka truck party; dirt, mud, trucks a must
4) All sweets party

These are just a few. Find what your child love and go with it. Here is Austin's 2nd birthday party. All for a boy!

Kids spaces

My Austin Tyler just turned 3. I can't believe it! Months ago I realized how small his toddler bed had become when half of his body was hanging off the bed. He likes to sleep side ways, weird I know.
This gave me the best excuse to convince my husband I needed to redecorate Austin's room. Love a decorating project!
The only thing I am waiting to do is build a headboard. Look for that in the next months with instructions on how easy it is to make one for less than $50.

My current home

I love things that are old mixed with modern. I found this great bed in the US for a couple thousand dollars and would never spend that much. So I found a local wood worker and asked if he could build my dream bed. For $250 this is the bed! I love it!!! Looking online at fabric I came across the perfect brown fabric with yellow and teal birds. Trimmed my curtains with it and made pillows. Cheap idea for wall art in a bedroom or any room 1) find something old and hang it. Got this old window for $8. 2) Go take some photos of things you love and frame it.
I love clutter free spaces so to make the room feel more organized and to be cheaper on my budget I found these shelves for beside the bed. So total of my bedroom including the new bed set on sale at JcPenny-$350! Hope this inspires you to make the master suite of your dreams.

On The Road

Missionaries spend a lot of hours on the road. This week we drove from Zacatecas, Mexico to the border which was flooded. Then to San Antonio, TX to stay with some friends. I love staying with people especially when they say "make yourself at home" and mean it. Not all people really want you to, just the nice thing to say. This was the kind of house where you could come downstairs in your pjs forget the touch of makeup, put your feet up on the couch and curl up with some coffee and their big dog. It was so nice.
Their daughters offered to watch Austin who just turned 3 so I could replace all our worn out clothes and shoes. Girls if you need sales go to Kohls! I saved $200 on just the clearance racks. I was so happy to get such great savings. Ross was next door and believe me I loved it. (Kevin stayed at Starbucks for this store) What is more fun then searching through a rack of random things hoping and looking for a one of a kind shirt?
One thing with shopping I have found is there are coupons online for everything! Couponcabin.com is a great resource and also just googling for coupons for ___ works too. I got free popcorn and drink at Target, 15% off at Old Navy just buy looking online. Happy shopping ladies!

No room for guests?

Carve out a corner for guests. One of our jokes in our family is that Kevin really doesn't have an office. Every time someone comes to stay it gets transformed to the guest room. Here is a great idea for any room to be made into a simple guest space. Perfect if you have an office.

Lunch

Chicken salad, chips, fruit salad with dip
(chicken, mayo, s/p, dill, nuts, grapes optional) boil chicken, shred, add ingredients. Can add garlic and onion. Serve on a fresh roll from bakery or toast bread
Fruit salad with dip (1 avocado, 1 banana, 2 tb. frozen pineapple juice, 1/4 cup water) Blend and pour over fruit.

Crockpot pulled pork
(pork roast, 2 beef bouillons, water) place all in crock pot cook for 8 hours on high or until tender. (overnight works well too) Drain water add 1 bottle of bbq. To crisp bbq put in over for 30 min. Serve on bun, with macaroni salad, fruit.

Dinner
Chicken, Vegetable Alfredo Soup
1 cup chopped broccoli
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 chopped onion
1 garlic clove, pressed(or you can finely chop it if you don't have a press)
1 can 14-14 1/2oz Chicken Broth
2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 Tbsp snipped basil added about 10 min. b/4 serving
1 jar prepared Alfredo sauce
Literally thow it all in a pot or crock pot and let it simmer until the veggies are tender, then snip in the basil.

Bread Bowls
These can take awhile, with all the rising involved...
The easiest method I've used, is buying Prepared frozen White Bread dough. Kroger has it in the frozen food section in the same area as the Pillsbury Frozen biscuits and the Monkey Bread. Then I thaw them over night and cut them in half first thing in the morning, gently shape them into ball shapes and follow the directions on the bag for rising. Then right b/4 I bake them I shred some Parmesan Cheese on top and bake. Then just cut off the top and hollow them out.

Chicken Foil Packs
(chicken breast, moz. cheese, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, s/p) Take foil piece rub oil over it place sliced tomatoes, zucchini, on top. Cut 4-5 slices on top of chicken push cheese inside slices, then place on top of vegetables. Roll up foil, place on foil pan bake for 40 min. 400 degrees. *make mashed potatoes and a cobbler for dessert.

Comfort Food

When you have guest in your home the last thing you want to do is to be cooking the entire time. Here are a few of my favorite recipes that is going to make your guest feel at home and want to stay longer and you will be able to relax.

Breakfast

Baked Oatmeal (mix 3 cups oatmeal, 2 cups apples pieces, 2 cups milk, 1/4 cup butter melted, 1 egg, 1 1/2 tea. baking powder, 3/4 tea. salt, cinnamon, nuts which optional) Bake 400 degrees for 40 min.

Scones (2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 cups all-purpose flour,
5 tablespoons of butter, 1 egg, 3/4 cup of milk)
Heat your oven to 400º F (200º C). Mix together flour, salt & baking powder. Add in the butter until your mixture is crumbly. Whip milk & egg and add to mixture. Stir until a soft dough ball is created.
Knead gently on a lightly floured board, turning a few times. Split dough in half and pat or roll out dough to one half-inch thick circles. Slice into wedges or use a shaped cutter. Place on lightly greased baking sheets. Bake for approx 15 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 10 *can be creative- orange peel with chocolate, cranberry nut, cream cheese, apple cinnamon.

we're right around the corner, be there in a few minutes

Has this happened to you? You get a call that someone is close to your house, you look around and think I need at least an hour to clean up. One little trick I do for unexpected guests is a laundry basket. I put it at the foot of my stairs and throughout the day I place in it things that need to go up stairs to be put away. It saves me so much time when someone shows up, I just take the basket up and no one knows. Each night I take my basket and go around each room and toss in what doesn't belong and put it away as I go around. (if you don't have a 2nd floor place basket in a room you often go through, then place it in a room to hide it)

Other tips to fake a clean house:
1) Take bathroom cleaner and wipe down sinks and mirrors in bathrooms.
2) Grab a rag and quickly dust the tops of furniture.
3) Light a candle
4) Get your mop and spot clean
5) Go around gather up all the clutter-put it away later

The little red bag

"Hospitality" means generously providing care and kindness to whoever is in need. As a missionary we have stayed in over 100+ different homes. Some you leave wishing you could stay longer. Others as you're pulling into the driveway you wish you could just step on it and get out of there. On deputation I started what I called the "red bag." This was the bag that when we walked into a home that was not very hospitable I would kindly ask my husband, Kevin "honey, can you also bring in the red bag?" No one knew what it was (except for all the missionaries who we told our secret too). Inside I would have a clean flat sheet to place over the bed, disinfected spray, cleaning wipes, gloves, all purpose cleaner, clean towels, and a thank you gift.

Believe me we used this bag often. I will never forget the time I got busted with Lysol spray in hand. A church was putting us up in a camper for a week and had not cleaned it since the family had gone camping last. Moldy food, musty sheets, and nasty bathrooms. So I got the red bag and went at it. Except what I didn't know was that there was a smoke detector and that it would go off with the smell of Lysol. The pastor came running in and I was BUSTED!

This week I want to focus on making your home a place of hospitality, not one of those "Red Bag" home. Easy tips on preparing for unexpected guests, recipes, and more.

Making wall art with what you got

I have lived in many temporary homes in my life time. As a missionary you never really unpack your bags for too long and never want to spend to much money for a place you live in for only a year or so. While in Costa Rica we lived in a tiny 4 room home and moved there with 2 check ins each and carried on what else we could on the plane. So you can imagine there was not much room in those bags for decorative things. Here are a few things I did in our home.

• framed craft paper .39 a sheet at Michaels craft store
• fabric stapled around a canvas or a frame made of cheap wood
• traced silhouettes of items I loved (for children's home I traced girlie things-high heel, makeup, purses)
• fabric taped with foam tape to the wall. if you have paint around make a boarder
  

Ugly couch

Slip covers too expensive? You hate the look of your couch or want a new look?

How to use a king size sheet to recover your couch:

If you can't afford a brand new slipcover, a king sized bed sheet will also work as a low cost alternative for a standard sized sofa. To turn a sheet into a slipcover, you will need a handful of upholstery pins. These furniture pins resemble "T" shaped wires and are designed to hold arm covers in place.

Begin by centering the sheet over the sofa, lengthwise.

Use your hand to tuck the sheets firmly in behind the seat cushions and along the base of the arms. You may have to untuck and retuck a little depending on the size of the sheet in relation to the sofa.

Once everything has been tucked in, use the pins to secure the arms in place. This is done by tucking the sheet around the arm rests, and then holding the material in place with pins tucked beneath the rest itself.

The next step is to gently pull the sheet up and over the back of the sofa, taking care not to untuck from behind the cushions. Use the upholstery pins to secure the sheet in place behind the backrest of the sofa,
beginning in the center back and moving outwards towards the back of the arms. Be sure to leave enough give in the sheet so that your guests don't inadvertently unpin the sheet as they sit down.