Flower Girl Basket & Ring Bearer "Pillow"

A few things I learned while on the hunt for wedding accessories. . . (not really new info). .

1. Flower girl baskets and ring bearer pillows are a lot of money if you get them custom made
2. All of the craft stores have the same exact items (JoAnn's Fabrics, Michael's Crafts, and ACMoore)
3. Even if you look for the custom made ones, they don't always have unique ideas

THEREFORE. .


I made my own. :) I have made flower girl baskets and ring bearer pillows (and guest books) for several of my friends weddings, so I don't know why I just didn't do this from the get go! :) I am sure Jackson will love it!

I decided to make Jeff a ring bearer "pillow" out of a soft soccer ball, since he used to play soccer and it is his favorite sport. Then I decided to add his college (UVA) colors. It is just something fun! :)

The flower girl basket matches the wedding colors and pearl theme. Avery will look adorable carrying it. :)

Trying something new . . .

Beginning stages of chocolate mousse concoctions. :)

Left - Butterscotch and Milk Chocolate Mousse

Top - popcorn mousse 

Bottom right - peanut and cashew mousse

Left - Blueberry Mousse 

Right Coconut Mousse

One of my adorable fifth
graders (and her mom) bought a gift off my registry for the end of the year. It was a mini dessert set. Now, some people may say this is a silly gift, but if you know me - you would disagree! Since there was a string of thunderstorms this afternoon, I decided to experiment. . .it went pretty well! Jeff's favorite was the Smore' and mine was the peanut and cashew! :)

Left - the desserts chilling in the fridge

Right - All ready to eat!

Strawberry and Lemon Summer Cake

It is time for a yummy summer treat! 

The cake: Strawberry - you can either use the boxed stuff (which is actually pretty fluffy if you only bake it for about 22 minutes at 350). Or you can use the below strawberry recipe . . .  

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Strawberry-Cake-from-Scratch/Detail.aspx

The icing: Lemon Cool Whip (you cannot buy it, you have to make it)


Ingredients: Lemon Jello Pudding Mix, Cool Whip, Cold Milk
Directions: Fold together 1 package of lemon jello pudding mix, 1 container Cool Whip, and 1 cup of cold milk. Make sure all "chunks" are completely immersed in lemon mix. Let chill in refrigerator for about 15 minutes.

After the cake has cooled, use the cool whip icing you have created and add some fresh strawberries. Make sure you use a bread or cake knife to even the top of the cake before icing.

Use the chilled icing to finish off your cake!

Settling In

Main part of the basement - cozy :)

Jeff's favorite part of the house with his leather chair

Our wood-burning fireplace. We are going to make it a stone fireplace this fall.

This is just a quick post documenting the house progress. It is starting to feel like home. I absolutely love the house, the area, and the friendly neighbors. Thanks to my parents, sister, and Jeff's "old" roommate for helping us move in! And to both our families for some very thoughtful 

 

 

 

 

 

housewarming gifts. SO blessed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dining room and living room . . almost done!

I love our new coffee table! It has storage and serving trays. Jeff and I are using it for storing board and card games.

Repainting the kitchen pantry!

First "real" meal in the house. Rice, biscuits, and creamy chicken casserole (one of Jeff's faves).

New chairs for the deck. . .the table is still on back order

My sister helping to put the kitchen table back together. . refusing to look at the camera

boxes and a lot of "stuff"

Jeff and Chris moving us in! Dad helped also!

Putting wood blinds up in the kitchen (they are already in the rest of the house)

I am thinking of a round decorators table for this corner?

New dining room table and china hutch (love them - love Broyhill)

Notice the hardware . . .Jeff put it all on :) Yay!

The HUGE plant Jeff's mom got us! Our deck needed a little color.