Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Love, Moo, Toots and Me!

Handmade Mermaids

A few months ago I found the directions for these cute little handmade mermaid dolls from Wee Wonderfuls and found a free tutorial.  Of course, I can't find that tutorial now so I just posted a link to Wee Wonderfuls so you can see all of her wonderful stuff.  So creative that one.

So after deciding that I just had to make them, I, well, made them.  Actually, I waited until closer to Christmas, since I am really trying not to give the girls gifts just because.  So I bought the fabric, followed the directions that I had printed out weeks before and worked on them slowly.  S-L-O-W-L-Y.  I had to wait until Moo was asleep AND Daddy was home to hold Toots, since she is not a big fan of sewing machine noise.  A little bit here, a little bit there and some sewing machine problems (I still have no idea why the machine decided to change tension on me in mid fin) I finally finished late night Christmas Eve.

Cute, right?  The one with the blue hair belongs to Toots and the pink belongs to Moo.  They came out pretty good, if I do say so myself.  And I was afraid that I would have spent all that time on them and nobody would want to play with them, but Moo seems to like them well enough.  Toots is still not too interested in dolls, but she did carry it around for a while. 

Mermaid in stocking.  They were just too cute - no wrapping required.

Seems to be enjoying her new mermaid.  Here you can see the size, perfect for little hands.  Not so perfect for bad eyesight and hand sewing.  It was about 50% machine and 50% hand stitching, and my big meaty hands are not meant for delicate stitching!  But in the end, it all worked out and now the girls have some cute little dolls.  Moo even asked if I could make her another one so her mermaid could have a friend.  I think that means it's a hit.  I told her I'd make her one for her birthday (in March) and that she could pick out the fabrics.  She should have loads of fun with that project!

Making Ornaments with Moo

Moo and I decided to make some ornaments after seeing Meg over at Whatever with her SUPER cute flower pearl pin ornaments.  So we headed out to the craft store and picked up one of those bottles of scrapbooking flowers, pearl headed pins and I already had some styrofoam balls from some other project.  I put the bits in a crafty tin (a plastic muffin tin) and we got started!

Moo picked out the colors, we both used pink flowers since one of those jars could easily cover more than two balls.  Then she picked pink pins and I picked white.  I just thought it would be nice to have a little contrast, but it turns out one box of 100 pins covers basically one ball - depending on how many flowers you try to stuff on there.

I was a little worried at first and hesitant to do this craft with Moo, since it does use long head pins and it requires a lot of patience, which Moo doesn't really have.  I finally figured that we could just stop when she got tired of it and pick it up again later.  And I had her put the ball in one of the open spots on the craft tin while she was sticking the pins into it, so she would be less likely to stick herself.  As you can see, she really enjoyed herself.

She was extremely careful and placed each flower on the ball in just the right spot before pinning it in.  We discovered early on that it is kind of hard to remove the pins once they have been pushed in.  I was worried about how easily they would come out - I didn't want them to just drop out on the floor with the baby running around, so I tried it out.  Pretty hard to pull them out when you are really trying, so that was good.  It's also harder than you would think to push them in there.

Moo really concentrated and kept at it until her ball was totally covered.  I was very surprised at how focused she was on this activity.  Probably due to the fact that every two seconds I was telling her what a good job she was doing, how pretty her ornament was looking and how grown up she was to be using very sharp pins so carefully.

Her focused face.  I don't see it often, had to capture it.  By the way, she is still in her jammies since this was about 9 a.m. but she had to "fix her hair".  This is how she did her hair for the day.

The finished product.  Very cute if I do say so myself.  Sorry it's a little blurry, I was using the bad camera and had to turn the flash off since it just whited everything out.  The flowers came in a few different shades of pink and some had glitter on them.  Moo loved her ornament and was VERY proud to show it off.  All in all it was a great project that we just might do again in a different color.  Thanks Meg for the great idea!

Teacher Gift Idea

If you have a teacher to give a gift to this Christmas (or this would also work for an end of the year gift), then have I got the gift for you!  The Teacher Survival Kit!  I saw something similar to this on a few blogs and thought I could tweek it to fit Moo's Kindergarten teacher - who is a Saint, by the way!

You just get a jewelry supply organizer, tackle organizer, anything with a bunch of small cubbies in it that closes securely, then go to town filling it with things you think your teacher would need and appreciate!  I went with a red, white and black theme, but you don't have to use a color theme at all.  I just liked the look of everything matching.  I went with Sharpies, pencils, large and small paper clips, binder clips, rubber bands and magnets.  I also added a headache medicine (after a day with 30 5 year olds, I would need those), some chocolates (because they are yummy!), some breath mints (mainly because they were red, white and black) and some heart stickers because she gives the kids a sticker when they are leaving if they were good in school that day.  An easy way for the parents to see if they kid acted up or not. 

Then I got a cellophane bag and some ribbon and there you have it!  I also added the apple post-it dispenser because she is ALWAYS sticking post-its on everything and every teacher needs an apple for her desk, right?  So cute.  This gift was not too expensive to put together, but making two or more would be more cost effective, as I was left with a bunch of paperclips and chocolates and such that wouldn't fit in the bins.  So make one for each of the teachers in your life and spread some love this Christmas!

P.S.  All items used in the bins were purchased at Walmart, as were the bins themselves.  The decorations and the fancy pencils were from Michael's craft store. 

My Little Cowgirls

Moo in my hat and Toots in her old one.  Toots saw Moo wearing my hat, pointed to hers and said "at?"  So I got the old one down and as soon as Toots put it on, she wouldn't take it off.  The same can be said for Moo, who refused to take my hat off for the rest of the night.  What silly girls!

Operation Christmas Child - Building Boxes

 So a few weeks ago I wrote a post about Operation Christmas Child, then I started having problems with my computer - iPhoto specifically.  But now I'm back and I think I have the problem figured out, so let's get on with the show!  Operation Christmas Child, as you can see, is something Moo and I like to do during the holidays.  I slowly gather things all year long (note the small plastic tubs) when they go on sale or when I find them at a good price.  Socks, school supplies, toys, books, stickers, anything fun.  Then in November, we get to pull those boxes out and build our gift boxes.  I also collect shoe boxes during the year to pack our gifts in (note the large brown box full of shoe boxes). 

 Moo grabs a shoe box and goes down the line of tubs, filling the box with all sorts of goodies.  I should point out here that each tub has a different focus.  One has socks and tee shirts in it.  One has hard candies.  One has hair brushes, headbands, clips and the like.  One has stuffed animals.  One has school stuff like crayons, pencils, sharpeners, stickers, paper.  One has soap and washcloths.  You get the idea.  So Moo gets to pick things from each bin to fill up a shoe box.  Then she does it again until we are out of shoe boxes!

The last step is for Mommy to wrap the boxes and for Moo to draw pictures to send with her boxes.  This year she drew a picture of herself with what she imagined the person getting the box to look like and wrote "I love you" on each.  She said she wanted them to know that she was sending them a present because she loved them.  So cute.  Then we close them all up and take them to a drop-off location.  This year it was at the Crossroads Church, not too far from our house.  When I printed out the labels on-line, I also signed up for notification when the boxes were delivered so we could find out where they went.  And I just got notice that they ended up in Malaysia.  They sent some photos of kids getting their boxes and it was great to be able to show Moo just how happy her boxes made those kids.  If you are looking for a way to make your Thanksgiving or Christmas a little more meaningful, look into sending a shoe box to a child in need.  It's a wonderful thing to teach your children how to appreciate what they have and realize that not everyone is so lucky.

Computer Problems

You may have noticed that I said I would be blogging more and am not.  Well, my dear readers, that is because I am experiencing technical difficulties.  My computer says that it can hold no more images, which means I need to get an external drive to hold the millions of pictures I am currently storing on my harddrive.  This is something new to me and I'm sure will take me a while to accomplish.  I also recently ordered an item of furniture which is defective and Pottery Barn is taking their sweet time thinking about fixing the problem.  And to top it all off, my microwave just broke.  It's a built-in and I can't find a microwave that will fit the space the old one was in.  I finally found one smaller, but now I have to figure out how to adjust the space so the microwave fits in the surrounding vent opening.  Ugh.  My home is ganging up on me this week.  Not to mention that Thanksgiving is coming up, which is also when we do the name draw for Christmas gifts.  So after that I will have to get to work making all those gifts.  This is not the time for things to start breaking!  So I'm going to get on the computer thing as soon as I can figure out which one to buy...so I'll be back soon with more posts!

Operation Christmas Child

Please don't forget to pack your shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child!  Collection week is coming up, beginning November 14th!!!!  That's REALLY soon!  So get out there, pack a box for a little boy or girl and bring a smile to a child this Christmas. 

We love the Veggie Tales series of books and movies designed to teach children basic Bible stories and morals in a fun way.  That's where we first heard about Operation Christmas Child.  We loved the idea of packing a box of love for a kid halfway around the world who had never gotten a gift before, who had never held a book before and who thought that nobody cared about them.  So we started packing shoeboxes!  Last year was our first year and we sent two boxes - one for each of my little kiddos.  This year, we are sending FOUR!  I don't know how, but I ended up with a lot of stuff!  Enough for four boxes with some left over to save for next year.  I would send more boxes, but there is also a recommended donation per box to help cover the cost of shipping the boxes.  It is all tax deductible, but I can't afford to spend a ton of money on shipping right now!  So anyway, four boxes it is!

If you would like to get involved with Samaritan's Purse and Operation Christmas Child (and I would encourage you to do so) click on the link HERE to go right to the Operation Christmas Child page to get started!  I'll post some photos later today if we get all the boxes packed, or tomorrow if it takes us until then to finish them up.  Moo is going to draw some pictures to include in each box and I'm going to write a little note to tuck in as well.  This really is a great thing to do with your family, especially right now since it's getting close to Thanksgiving.  We use this time to talk about how lucky we are and that some kids aren't as lucky.  Some don't have families to look after them, some have families but don't have enough money to even buy enough to eat.  We go shopping (even just to the dollar store or Walmart) to pick out needed items (soap, toothpaste, socks) and fun stuff (hair clips, coloring books, bracelets).  Then we come home and pack the boxes, talking about how much fun the kid will have when they open the box.  It's a great way to show your kids that giving can be just as fun as getting. 

Ok, enough chit chat!  I'm off to back boxes, teach Moo and Toots about giving and the spirit of Christmas and about being thankful for all that we have!  I love this time of year!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Moo and Toots!

Well this month has just been crazy!  With Toots turning one, making homemade costumes for two little trick or treaters plus Mommy and Daddy, out of town visitors staying in the guest room for a week and volunteering at school for a field trip to the pumpkin patch and the Halloween parade and party I haven't had any time to do anything NOT related to those activities!  I promise to come back here and post about the costumes and trick or treat bags (both homemade), Toots and her party (very cute vintage circus parade themed) and all the rest just as soon as I slip into a coma for about 3 days.  I feel like that's what I need right now!  And then it all begins again with that magical and dreaded month - November!  I love November, it means the start of my favorite time of year, Thanksgiving, family get togethers, Christmas decorations come next, with holiday gift making/shopping and all of that.  Then is New Years and my Anniversary.  Yup, got hitched on the day after the whole world parties.  I like to think they are all celebrating my anniversary.  That's not self-centered, is it?  And though I love the start of this season, it also is something that I kind of dread.  It means lots of extra cooking, cleaning, rushing to finish knitting last minute hats, sew last minute mermaid dolls for stockings and trying to figure out what to get for Moo's teacher, the neighbors and all those other people you feel like you want to give something too, but have no idea WHAT that should be.  A little stressful, but fun at the same time.  So stay tuned in the coming weeks for updates and ideas for gifts to make for family and friends, crafts to do with the kids and delicious food that only comes out at the holidays!  Be back soon!

Oh and tonight is Halloween, so stay safe if you are going trick or treating!  And don't eat too much candy!  Well, TRY not too eat too much candy, if you can.  Who am I kidding?  I'm going to go to town on that stash once we get home!  Come on, the baby can't eat her share!  I'm going to have to take one for the team and force myself to eat her haul.  It will be hard, but I'll do it.  For the good of the family, of course.

Saturday Night Live Fans Unite!

Am I the only one who is stoked to see this hit the shelves this holiday season?!?!  It seems I am.  There is a huge controversy around this ice cream and the choice by Ben & Jerry's to sell a flavor with such a cheeky name.  Frankly, if you're old enough to read this and understand the double meaning, you've already been corrupted and should not find this offensive.  Some people are arguing that it's wrong to let children see this.  What?  There isn't a gross picture on it or anything.  And like I said, if you're old enough to read this, you've heard WAY worse things than this at school.  Not to mention the fact that it is hidden in the massive wall of Ben & Jerry's flavors in the supermarket.  If you are standing in the ice cream isle long enough for your child to read all the names of the ice cream flavors Ben & Jerry's makes, you are spending WAY too much time buying ice cream.  Not to mention the fact that if you are concerned that your child would "get" it, doesn't that mean that your kid has already been exposed to vulgar humor?  I mean, it doesn't say Sweaty it says Schweddy.  If I told my child what this said, without giving her the meaning behind it, she wouldn't get it.  She would ask "What is a Schweddy Ball?"  Then she would ask if she could have ice cream.  Point being she wouldn't get the joke.  If your kid gets the joke, they don't need protection from this ice cream.  Maybe you protesters should think about that.  

It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween...

Yes, it's getting to be that time again!  And since Moo has been stuck home for the last few days with a cold I've been looking for ways to keep her busy that are rather sedentary due to her fever.  She asked to get her nails painted black for Halloween and I guess I'm a bit conservative or something because I don't think little kids should wear dark colored nail polish.  Not red or black or dark purple, nothing too adult and nothing too goth.  So I said a big N-O to the black, but countered with orange.  She thought for a second and said it sounded too boring.  So I argued that jack-o-lantern fingernails certainly weren't boring and she'd probably be the envy of her class with such interesting Halloween fingers.  She was sold.

Just a bit of orange polish, then a little Halloween magic with the old Sharpie and viola!  Jack-o-lantern fingernails!  I was thinking about doing something similar for myself for the Kindergarten class party I'll be helping out with next week.  For mine, I was thinking black polish and using the french manicure white pen to make little spiderweb lines.  The other option is purple polish, white web lines and a dot of black in the web to look like a spider.  I just don't know what I'll go with.  So many choices, so few weeks out of the year where you can do this stuff and not look insane.

The Farmer's Market

We LOVE the Farmer's Market.

We LOVE seeing all the pretty, crazy, new, interesting produce and flowers that we find every week.

What is that?  I have no idea what any of these things are...except Moo.  Everything else I asked about, but of course, I have forgotten all the names I was given shortly after getting in the car. 

Where have all the photos gone?

How come half of my photos don't show up on my posts?  They are there when I write the post.  And when I publish it and check that it worked.  But then the next day, they are gone!  There is just that stupid blue box with the question mark in it...mocking me.  What's up with that?

Someday I will conquer this thing they call a computer.  I will know all of it's secrets and it will no longer outsmart me.  At least it won't outsmart me as often.

Maybe.

More than likely, I will never outsmart the computer.  But that did make me feel good for a second.

I should go make dinner now.

I Won an AWARD!?!?!

Wow, can you believe it?  I won something for this blog!  I know, I can't either.  But The Fearless Farmgirl just gave me one!  She has such a fun blog to read, but I don't get the chance to get over there as often as I like.  Lately, Moo and Toots have been so crazy (with school and teething, respectively) that I can't even seem to fold the laundry that is sitting in a huge pile on a chair in the corner of my bedroom.  Sigh.  Anyway, I stopped over there the other day and found that she had given me this award!!!!

Pretty cool, huh?

"Liebster" is a German word meaning dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.The Liebster is awarded to spotlight up and coming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers.

Well, I have WAY less than 200 followers, that's for ding dang sure.  But to those 10 of you out there...and I'm serious, I have 10 followers, I'm so glad you check in with me from time to time.  Being a stay-at-home Mom can be challenging sometimes when you feel like there is no one to talk to.  I mean sure, I can talk to Moo about Dora til we're both blue in the face.  And Toots and I can talk gibber-jabber for hours on end.  But when the Hubby comes home from work, the last thing he wants to do is hear me go on and on about what I saw on t.v. or how I'm thinking of coloring my hair, or how I just read in InStyle about this new nail polish that has real metal flecks in it and a magnet in the lid of the bottle so that after you paint your nails (while they are still wet) you can run the lid over them and create really cool ripple effects.  Seriously, I just read that an hour ago in InStyle.  I may have to venture out to find this mythical nail polish at some point.  But I think I'm getting off track...

So since I got this award from FF (Fearless Farmgirl), which you should totally go check out using the link above, I have to follow the rules of the award and pass it on.  I have to pick 5 blogs to win this award that all have less than 200 followers.  This could be hard, because I read a ton of blogs, but I have never looked to see how many followers they have!  So here I go to find my favs. (current favorites, that is, I love you all!)...

Oh, and here are the other things I must do, so you who win this lovely award after me will know what to do as well. You must...

1.  Thank the giver and link back to their blog.  Done.  

2.  Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by commenting on their blogs.  Doney-Done.

3.  Copy and paste the award on your blog. DONE!

4.  Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers. Hmm....Just kidding! Done.

5.  Have fun!  Done and DONE!

So here we go with my top 5!  Drum roll please....

(p.s. click on any of the winners names to go to their blogs)

Cattle & Cupcakes! - I love checking this blog.  As a Mom with a baby, I love all things baby and she has the most adorable little baby girl on the planet, second only to my own.  Come on, you knew I had to say that right?  I really like the posts about products she and Annabelle like.  I can always use a good review!

Heather Ann! - Heather is my bestie and I love checking in on her blog.  She puts so much of herself on there it amazes me.  Sometimes I feel like so much of the blogging world is rather superficial (what I did today, what color I painted my nails, etc.) but she always has something deeper to comment on.  

Crafty Mama of 4! - I don't think I need to explain this one.  Crafty, party of one?  Your award is ready!  Now technically, she has less than 200 followers, although her Facebook page is a LOT bigger than that.  But we're just going with blog followers, right?  Anyway, I love this blog - check it out.

Itchin' Stitchin'! -  Ok, technically, this blog has just over 200 followers, but I just love it and I had to give her this award.  She and her kids are just so cute and she is so creative!  I love seeing the projects she posts about and I wish I could make cute little bags like hers.

Green Owl Crafts! - This chica is seriously crafty.  SERIOUSLY.  And she's always giving away free printables and posting about things she is adding to her Etsy shop, which is also great, in case you were wondering.  Check her out, but make sure you have lots of paper, ink and a few dollars for the Etsy store!  

Well there you go!  Five blogs I love that have now, won awards!  Yipee!  So go forth winners, and spread some love!!!

The Pioneer Woman Strikes!

First of all, let me say right off the bat that I took this beautiful image off the Pioneer Woman website I will be linking you too in just a moment.  I just wanted to include it so you could see exactly why I decided to venture into the homemade deluxe coffee world that, until today, I have been afraid of.  

  So I've been a fan of the Pioneer Woman, her blog and her cookbook.  Recently she has hooked up with Food Network to make 6 episodes of The Pioneer Woman cooking show, which is my dream come true.  This chick is awesome!  She has a great sense of humor and good taste (in all things).  I have to imagine that she could be my cooler, slightly older sister or best friend, maybe?  If only I lived in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma!  Alas, the closest I'll ever get to hanging out with Ree (that's her actual name) is watching her cook on Food Network.  Inspired by her yummy cooking, I explored the recipe section of her website and since my cupboards are quite bare right now, there wasn't a lot that I could actually make.  It was killing me!  But I did stumble across this gem.  Iced Coffee!  Now how hard can that be?  Well, trust me, I can't make iced coffee that tastes like Starbucks to save my life.  Mine is always too bitter and too watery.  I can't do it.  Her solution shocked me!  And to make matters worse (in a good way) she gave a variation for Vietnamese Iced Coffee which is what I made this morning.  It was TO. DIE. FOR.  So dang good!  So here is the link to the Pioneer Woman's Perfect Iced Coffee Try it immediately, I'm sure you will love it.  I only made a quarter of the coffee concentrate because I didn't have a vessel big enough for the amount she made, but I know that I'm gonna need to buy a bigger pitcher because I'm going to be making this every summer from now on.  Yumm! 

A moment of silence...

...a moment of silence for 9/11. Though I didn't know anyone personally, that day of loss shook me to the core. Tragedy, bravery, fear, love, loss, hope, courage. So many running in to help those who could not run out. You are all my heros, you who died for no reason, you who died trying to save others and you who are left behind to deal with the loss of loved ones. I will never forget.  I will tell my children.  You will live on and your sacrifice will always be remembered.

Room Re-do

Here's a good idea you can use too.  If you want to re-do a kids room into a more "grown-up" kids room and are sure that they will change their minds about decor a zillion times before they leave the nest, use inexpensive stuff.  Also use stuff that is not an age definer.  Example, do not go top to bottom Dora the Explorer!  In a year, Dora will be old news and you will be re-doing your re-do!  Try instead to focus on something they like, but in an off angle.  Moo LOVES My Little Pony, so I went to the craft store and found these $5 paint by number horses.  We will frame them in thrift store over the top gold frames and hang them in the room.  We are also using mix & match floral sheets.  When you enter this room, you won't  know how old the girl who lives here is...well, as long as the toys are put away.  We channeled her love of ponies into horse art that will work well beyond her My Little Pony phase.  Much more likely to stick around that way.  Just a thought.  I'll post pictures of the room when it's done, but hang in there for the long haul folks, because I think this re-do is going to take a LONG time.  Too much other stuff going on, but I'll be working on it bit by bit and it will get done eventually!

Wanna Biscuit?

Wanna biscuit?

It's really gooooood...

You sure?  You don't want a biscuit?

Oh no!  Where did my biscuit go?  Did you take it?

Oh there it is!!!!  I was sitting on it!  Silly me!  So, you want some?

Crayons!!!

So I've been seeing lots of broken crayons around the homestead and finally decided to do something about it!  I got myself down to the Walmart and picked up a really cheap mini muffin tin for about $3.  Then I spent an hour peeling the wrappers off the broken crayons that had collected at the bottom of our crayon lunch box.  That sounds strange, but our crayons do not eat lunch, they reside in a tin lunch box.  Anyway, after the pieces were all peeled (which was terribly annoying and I don't recommend doing it when you want to look your best because I now have a million different colors of crayon under my fingernails) I broke them into small pieces and combined them in the mini muffin molds.  Some spaces got different shades of the same color.  Some got a few colors and some got a kind of rainbow.  I really enjoyed playing around with the color combos and seeing what they looked like in the end.
  As you can see, we had a lot of reds, oranges and yellows.  My favorite is the one with the blues.  I think it looks like the ocean, so pretty.  The cool thing about these crayons is 1. they are being recycled into new crayons, because let's face it - kids don't ever use the broken crayons and 2. when you color with them, you

never know what it's going to look like!  How fun is that?!?!  I've decided to package some of them up with  a homemade coloring book for Christmas gifts for some of my dear friends (you know who you are!) and to package some up to give to Moo in her stocking!  Yes, that's right.  I did this project without Moo.  Gasp!  Shock!  In my defense, I tried to get her to come over and help me but she was too into her movie (Enchanted) and wouldn't budge.  So I did the entire thing myself.  Yes, it was super fun.  Yes, it would have been great to do with kids (as long as an adult does the actual baking part).  So now she has no idea that lovely creations are sitting right behind her on the kitchen counter.
So here's all you do.
1. peel paper off broken crayons
2. break broken crayons into bits that will fit in your molds
3. fill oven safe molds (muffin tins work great) with bits of crayon
4. heat oven to 350*F
5. when oven reaches 350*F turn it off, then place muffin tin in oven

6. watch the crayons carefully, remove them if they start to smoke
7. keep tray in the oven until the crayons look like soup and you can't see any large crayon chunks
8. let cool completely!  When totally dry they will shrink and fall right out of the mold.

* When popping them out of the mold, place two or three towels on the counter and turn the tin over on the towels.  If you do this on your counter, the crayons may crack.

Now color away!  So fun and easy!  I got the instructions for this from the internet and there are a million ways to do it, so you can use these instructions or find your own.  But please keep in mind that I am not a professional crayon melter and can not be held responsible for you burning down your house.  Crayons are made of wax and wax can burn and catch fire, so watch that mold while it's in the oven and do remove it if it starts to smoke.  There, disclaimer done.

 Which is your favorite?

Dogpile on Daddy!!!!

A Very Vintage Bridal Shower

The table was long enough to comfortably hold 16, so the centerpieces were spread out down the center.  The Bride is a Professor of Literature, so vintage books were held open with keys from my Grandfather which tied into the theme, "He's got the key to her heart..".  The table was so long we couldn't find a single cloth that worked, so instead we found reproduction vintage sheets and draped 3 across, sticking with a light pink/light blue color scheme.  We also didn't have enough of one single set of china to use for everyone, so we mixed up four place settings from our Grandmother's china, my Mother's china and the Bride's Mother's china.  We did the same with the silver.  It gave the table a very cute vintagey mix & match look.  You can also see the favors, which doubled as placecards.  I filled jelly jars with Hershey's kisses, covered them in a coordinating fabric, tied them with ribbon and added two tags.  One had the name of the guest and the second, hanging right behind the first, said "The key to a good marriage is lots and lots of kisses!" once again tying in the "key" theme.

The kitchen island served the food.  We had 3 types of little sandwiches on mini-croissants,  broccoli slaw  and fruit salad for lunch.  Then as the guests watched the Bride open gifts, we swapped out the lunch spread for the dessert spread, which you can see in the pic above.  We kept it simple by picking up some of the Bride's favorite varieties of See's candy, plating all 4 types on their own plates.  Then I made some Madelenes, one of the Bride's favorite and some white mini cupcakes topped with a dollop of lemon curd and topped with tiny marshmallow flowers.  We made the small cake on the pedestal simply as decoration...but also in case we ran out of cupcakes.  I'm really bad at guessing how much food people will eat!  The apothecary jars were filled with strawberry cheesecake taffy (because it was pink) and malted strawberry milkballs (also because they were pink).

My brother and close friend/cousin to the Bride, who acted as our bartender for the event.  For beverages we set up a Mimosa Bar.  There was Champaign and Diet Sprite for a base, then we had frozen cubes of orange juice and berry punch (both frozen concentrates from the store).  We put a frozen cube in the bottom of the glass and poured the base over it for a cold, refreshing drink!  It worked out well and everyone seemed to enjoy them!

The gift table, before the guests arrived.  A few balloons, a potted plant tucked inside a gift bag for color and our gifts.  My Mother (the floral), my Brother (the white),  Moo and Toots (the brown and pink) and mine (the Cross-stitch which I didn't wrap so we could use it as decoration since it was in theme).

Another thing we did for the Bride.  I included a tag with every invitation that said "The key to a happy marriage is..." and asked the guests to fill them in and bring them to the party.  Of course there were extras for those who forgot, then they all went into this apothecary jar for the Bride to take home.  We thought it was a sweet way for everyone to share little bits of marriage wisdom with the couple.

The Bride and Moo.  While she opened her gifts, Moo was given the very important job of making the ribbon bouquet for the Bride.  With some help from the Maid of Honor (who just happens to be Moo's favorite cousin), the end result was just beautiful!

Moo was quite excited to be included in all the party prep and the party itself.  She even got to have coffee with her dessert, just like all the grown-ups.  Don't worry, it's just milk, but she did get to drink it out of a real teacup.  Moo and Toots were the only kids at the Shower, since I'm the only one with kids (so far), but I think they did very well.  My Mom and I had a lot of fun throwing this shower for our sweet cousin (well, my sweet cousin, her niece) and we can't wait for her sister to tie the knot so we can do it again!  I'm thinking nautical...

P.S. I know there's not a lot of pics posted here, but that's because all of the other ones I took have lots of guests in them and I didn't want to post them without permission.  I know I hate seeing photos of me that other people post (they always seem to be bad!)  So out of respect for the guest, I didn't post any.  Sorry!