"Winter Birds" Tea Party

After so much fun at our last winter tea party (2 years ago), I decided we must have our sweet librarians over again for another party!

         

December 2011                                  Today - February 22, 2014

Our little girl is growing up too quickly!

I love a good tea party - just a couple friends, some food, and a warm cup of tea.

Lately I've enjoyed looking out my kitchen window each morning and seeing a variety of birds snacking on the seed bell that my generous mother hung on a tree branch in our front yard. These birds come in all sorts of colors and are fun to watch. I think my favorite are the red cardinals.

All these birds got me in the mood for a Winter Birds Tea Party! And, yet again, my sweet mother-in-law let me borrow some tea cups, a tea pot and best of all some beautiful birds to decorate with!

We enjoyed a wonderful morning with warm weather! The high today is 75 and the windows are open! That's a Texas winter for ya.

We sent our sweet brother off to visit Mimi and Pops (armed with a sword to defend the princess). His need to run and play outdoors is HUGE! So he went over to "help" them build a deck for their pool and have his own little tea party with his grandparents. Of course we packed some yummy snickerdoodles in his backpack, along with his power tools  :o)

 

Next, we set the table for six! I always enjoy making name cards and other decorations for the current party's theme with card stock, scrapbook paper and any art tidbits that I have on hand. This time each name card had a bird on it. 

(Yes, I'm from Portland!)

 

On the menu today was: chicken salad croissant sandwiches, butterfly pbj's, banana muffins, grapes, veggies and ranch dip, meat and cheese,  mini snickerdoodles, banana pudding, homemade lemonade, iced coffee, and two types of tea - Chai Green Tea and Mint Medley.

See the sweet cardinal in the middle of the table? Lovely winter bird!

 My mother is a great hostess and a tea-giver-extraordinaire! She prepared our tea in pots today and helped in so many ways.

 

Our dear "Story time Lady", Cessy, and her sweet girls joined us. We missed having our children's librarian with us too, but we thought of her throughout our party. Our friends were very pleasant to visit with and we learned more about each of them! 

It's a great party when the food and company are enjoyable.

 

Here is my first attempt at banana pudding... and of course 

I forgot to include the bananas!

After eating our brunch, we all enjoyed a memory game.

I place many objects that began with the letter "B" on a cookie sheet and each team had one minute to look at the tray and then, by memory, write down what they saw. The mommy/grandma team won!

What fun memories we made today. We missed you so much, sweet Becca, 

and hope to try to party with you again soon!

Here is one last "bird" thought to leave you with...

" ²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?... ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:25-26, 34

Blessings from this blessed lady,

 

"Almost Free" Art For Your Home

Oh, how I love to reuse jars, tin cans, paper towel rolls, etc. for fun projects... especially when it's for crafts for the kids, home decor or or helping to organize my space.


Here's an up-cycle project from this summer that was fairly simple and quick to accomplish.


The possibilities are endless when it comes to reusing t.p. and paper towel rolls. I'd love to hear what you have done or made with yours!

Crafting tools ready to go!

T. P. Wall Art
Cost: $2
Time to make: 1 hour, plus dry time


To get started gather your tools:  empty cardboard rolls, a hot glue gun, scissors, a ruler and paint (I chose spray paint).


I used brown cardboard paper towel rolls for this project. They held up well to being cut, glued and painted. I have also hear that the white t.p. rolls are very sturdy.

 

I held my paper towel rolls next to a ruler and made a pen mark at every inch.

 

Just choose the size (depth) you want for your art and keep it uniform.

 

Squish the roll flat, just enough to cut it at each mark. They will bounce back a bit and that's okay.

 

 

Lay your pieces out to get an idea of the pattern you want to use.

 

Play around with it a bit, there are so many possibilities! I kept my design pretty simple.

 

I tried to do this craft from start to finish in one nap time and made it!

 

 

 

Next glue the cut roll pieces together.

 

I just used a dot of hot glue and pinched the sides together until they held fast.

 

(Didn't even burn myself this time!)

 

 

 

Your finished product will straighten itself out when you are

done gluing it together.

 

Sometimes there are little pieces of the rolls that want to stick up,

just trim them off.

 

 

 

Lastly I took the pieces outside to spray paint them.

 

I placed a couple of 2x4's under them so that I could spray at every angle.

 

After drying on one side I flipped them to paint from the other side.

 

The cardboard soaked up the paint a bit, and some evaporated on the 100+ degree day I chose to be outside painting! It took almost an entire can of spray paint to get the look I wanted.

 

Keep painting until it looks good and covered.

Ta da!

 

Display your t.p. roll art proudly... no one will ever guess what they are made of.  (unless they have seen them around Pinterest :o)
 

To display my art I hung them each on a small nail. I really like how the color of the art brings out the bird in my painting. It was just the touch of color that I was looking for this summer. And now... it's on to changing my decor for fall! I can't believe how the time is flying by this year!


Besides making these I continued my paint kick by purchasing 5 old, wooden frames for $2 at a garage sale,  which I lightly sanded and painted. I really enjoy the look of them hanging on my kitchen wall (hope to post pics soon).

 

A little sparkle goes a long way!

 

 

 

 

"I will take you home, little sample, and you will be mine!"

The pretty turquoise paint used in this frame was 50 cents, a discarded sample I found at Lowe's. I LOVE the color and I have plenty of this paint left for a couple other small projects.

And to keep the kids happy while getting my frames painted I gave them a job... making shapes from Play Doh!

 

Playing, learning, visiting and having fun!

I added a pop of color to my living room wall by spray painting a frame that I have had for a few years. I used the left over paint from the t.p. roll art projesct!

 

Does it really look that crooked on my wall?! Goodness!

 

 

 

 

Scripture art I created to remind our family to REJOICE ALWAYS!

 


I hope that you are inspired to create something lovely for your home. It doesn't have to be expensive or really even cost anything. Look for something you already have lying around and make something new out of it!


Now to change my decorations for the fall... let's see what I can come up with!


Have a blessed weekend,

"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

1 Corinthians 10:31

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Winter Wonderland Tea Party

Tea parties are a great way to bless others - whether to celebrate a birthday or a holiday they can be so enjoyable. You don't need to spend much money or have a fancy home to host a tea party - just a few tea cups and some creativity!

I wanted to thank some special ladies in my children's lives, so I invited them to a Winter Wonderland Tea Party! I used scrapbook paper and other materials that I had on hand to make the invitations and place cards. I was able to borrow tea cups and a couple tea pots from my sweet mother-in-law, and it all came together!

The Invitation

Going with the Winter Wonderland theme, I used snowflake ornaments that I hadn't used for Christmas and placed them around on tables, near picture frames and hung them on the large mirror in our living room! I also found some large crystal clear snowflakes at the Dollar Tree (that were half off - score!) and used them on the table underneath trays of food.

 

Spray painted tree branches bring the feel of winter indoors!

 

A framed menu for all to see what's to come!

Two teas were offered - Chai Spice and Blackberry Pomegranate

As well as hot cocoa fixings

 

The spread

I served a homemade veggie quiche for the ladies and peanut butter jelly stars for the kids.

I also included meat, cheese, and crackers, carrot stick and ranch dressing, and chocolate pudding for dessert along with some fruit!

PB&J Stars (a favorite around here)

 

Christmas napkins and candy canes left over from the holidays

 added a touch of color and winter feel.

The younger tea party guests enjoyed a simple craft - creating a winter wonderland landscape with white crayons and sparkles! Then after we ate and visited for a while we played a fun game with tea bags. We all laughed together and got to know one another better! After all the sweets that the little girls ate it was time to get our shoes on and head outside into the sunshine. What a great way to end the party!

Me and my Minnie Mouse girl at the party!

(she wanted to wear her new dress up clothes that she received for Christmas)

Whatever the occasion, even if it's just to have a few friends over to visit, I hope that you enjoy a tea party soon. Little girls love the chance to dress up and practice being little ladies.

Foot Pumice "Lollipops" - a take home treat for our grown up guests!



May God bless this last day of 2011 and pour out His joy and peace in your life in 2012!

Blessings,

Decorating for Christmas With What You Have!

Around Thanksgiving I began to daydream of the lovely ways I could decorate my home for the next holiday - Christmas! Of course I imagined the pristine silvers and blues of a perfect living room straight from a magazine. I then began to realize that a perfectly decorated living room wouldn't reflect the homey peace and joy that I want for my family... and it would cost me a lot of money to buy new decorations. So, I decided to look in my craft containers and see what I had.

An invitation above our couch

I found quite a bit that I put to use!

• 12 x 12 scrapbook paper
• tape
• paper cutter
• white card stock
• hot glue gun (my best friend :o)
• letter stamps
• ribbon
• lots of frames not being used

Each time the kids were down for a nap or busy wrestling with Daddy on the floor, I would get out my paper cutter, stack of paper and stamps. Slowly, slowly it all came together!

Hand-stamped "Joy" with rolled fabric flower!

My point of inspiration came when I saw this FREE holiday print out at Inviting Printables. The colors popped from the page and encouraged me to be BOLD this Christmas! So the color scheme I went with was bright blue, green and red (along with black and white).

I love to decorate with real greenery!

Picked up some xmas tree clippings from our local Walmart for free.

I found those same colors in my scrapbook paper collection and had fun putting together framed words and black and white pictures that we took last winter. I moved around the regular decor and added a bit of color to the kitchen and bathroom just to liven the place up.

The only additional items I bought to add to the decorations were four candlesticks (red and blue), a few new glass ornament balls in silver and blue, two poinsettia plants, and some colorful material from the scrap bin at Hobby Lobby.

So colorful!

Little white lights... my favorite

Our advent "house" and red galore!

Now I can say that I'm decorated for Christmas and feel cheery when I walk into my home. Peace and joy are here, because the One who gives us these precious gifts dwells in my home. He is welcome here during the holidays and always!

"Jesus" and my family

I pray that you enjoy this Christmas with your family and friends and most of all with Jesus Christ - the TRUE reason we celebrate Christmas.

And be encouraged to use what you have when decorating for the holidays!

Blessings,



PS - Can't wait to share my favorite Christmas cookie recipe with you later this week!

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A Few Fall Favorites

Good Morning!

I am enjoying so many lovely things this fall but most of all my GMG group and quiet time in the Word of God each morning. It sure takes a lot of effort to get out of bed before my kids wake up (they rise with the sun!). But it's worth it... to start the day with a cup of coffee and the TRUTH!

Today we read 1 John 2:7-8... don't get much from those verse by themselves but verses 9 to 11 speak of abiding in the light of Christ by loving one another!

LOVE - an old commandment and a new commandment!

Truly loving others and God is only possible through Jesus Christ.

Me and my GMG journal (lovingly made by my dear friend Keisha)

All ready to go!

My journal, Bible, hightlighting key, and pens. Oh... and coffee!

Here a few more things I am enjoying this fall.

A country centerpiece.

(Burlap wreath and a cookie jar full of pumpkins)

Baking!

Pumpkin cookies - or anything with pumpkin....

(or any cookies for that matter  :o)

If I could bake and eat it, I would...

This too! And it's burning right now!

(I'm taking Courtney's 31 Day Fall Challenge)

I LOVE using my crockpot, too easy!

Tasty meals with my family!

(Check back here later this week for the recipe for Crock Pot French Dip Sandwiches!)

A sure sign that fall is here :o)



What are a few of your favorite fall indulgences?

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

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