Winds of Change

It was inevitable…and I’ve noticed it happens so much in the blogging world: people change their website locations. And I’m apparently no different. I simple ADORE WordPress for all of it’s invaluable features…and will still use it, but will be hosting it myself. So please stay tuned for my new blog – and the address and all! I’m hoping to make this transition as smooth as possible, but have been nervously putting it off. My new blog will be the same as this one, yet different, too. I want to add more customized features, and am still learning how to do all of that. Pretty soon, I will give you the new address to it – and will just have to make updates along the way instead of waiting until my new blog is “perfect” enough to share.

Stay tuned!

Custom Vintage Chic Signage~!

You know, I create banners. They make cute design statements – literally – in your home!

- – But where else?

One of my recent fabulous customers sent in a picture of the custom banner I had made for her. Kristin, from Retro Caft Art, had asked me to make a banner for her booth at the craft show. I was happy to oblige! Okay, so the banner is really poppin’ against that black! I think it’s a nice compliment to the yummy stuff she sells. Y’all be sure and check out her jewelry and artsy supplies over on her website – - and tell her that I sent ya!

I have to tell ya – it was so exciting to see it being used! I just love making people happy and love hearing back from them after they’ve gotten their order.

So the quick moral here is that the banners I sell are not just for home decor – they can also be used as signs for your special event: weddings, shows, birthdays, bar mitzvahs, chicken chases…yeah, the sky is the limit!

For a little extra moolah, I can add on some chipboard to your banner to give it a more sturdy appearance. I totally recommend this if you: a.) want your banner to last longer and b.) will be using it outdoors at all.

Where can you get yours? Simply check out my Etsy shop and find what you’re looking for. Want something more custom? That’s easy, too! Just message me! =-D

Make Your Own Peanut Butter~!

You know what I did? I took a risk and ordered 25 pounds of raw Spanish peanuts from our health food co-op! I say that it was risky because I had only ever made homemade peanut butter just ONE TIME before making the big order…and so I wasn’t quite sure if our family was going to be on board with that type of peanut butter…and that MUCH of it. In the end, I decided that it would be the healthier, more frugal option for our family’s peanut buttery needs, so I went for it. We discovered that it was fun to make and quite tasty, too!

Yes, there is a learning curve for your palate because it is different than your regular old store-bought PB – but in a great way! If you’re used to ultra velvety-smooth peanut butter, then you will probably want to do some extra steps at the tail-end of this recipe to get it going that way. I choose to skip that sorta thing because we appreciate  a slightly chunky texture.

Now – if you aren’t on board with a local health food co-op, and you would LIKE to be, then try contacting the friendly folks at Something Better Natural Foods. You can call or email them and ask if there are any health food co-ops in your area that you can join. If you aren’t in a co-op and just want to get your hands on some peanuts, then simply check your grocery store and see if they have raw peanuts. If not, then you may be able to ask for a special order of them and return later in the week to pick up ‘n purchase. Since you are making peanut butter out of these, then try to get Spanish peanuts because they have a higher oil content.

Homemade Peanut Butter

2 cups raw peanuts

6-8 tbsp. water

4 tbsp. raw honey

3 tbsp. peanut oil

salt

Preheat your oven to the standard 350 degrees.

Scoop out 2 cups of raw peanuts…

…and pan ‘em.

I double this recipe for our family because that’s how fast we go through it, but feel free to make as much as you like! Sprinkle salt to taste!

Roast the peanuts for 15-20 minutes. Keep a good eye on them – and sometimes shake the pans while they are still in the oven to ensure even roasting. When they are done, they will be a beautiful deep reddish-brown color. And they will smell divine~!

This next part deals with the papery skins. Do ya leave ‘em on or off? It’s a personal decision. At first, I thought I’d want to remove them. So I tried a few methods:

The first was to pour the warm peanuts onto a flour sack towel and then roll them around with my son’s hand (he was doing this – not me!).

We did this several times and it removed some of the skins.

Next, we tried dumping them into a salad spinner and giving it a go.

That removed a LOT of the skins!

So I just wanted to note that you do not HAVE to remove the skins if you like chunky peanut butter! With all the whirling that you’re about to do in the food processor, the skins get chunked right along with everything else and you honestly don’t notice them after the fact. I haven’t tried making a super smooth peanut butter yet…but am thinking that you’d want less skins involved with that option, but I could be wrong. Try it and see!

See my retro fabulous food processor? My mother-in-law gave it to me back when hubby and I first married. (We are celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary in December!) She was getting a new one and I was just learning to cook, so she offered to let me have this one in my new kitchen adventures. It has worked really well! Anyway, chunk all of your peanuts in, and then the fun part: add in all the rest of your ingredients and watch as the machine whips up peanut butter right before your very eyes!

Yes, yes! You, too, can be a success in the kitchen!

At this point, please taste your peanut butter to see if it still needs anything – salt, honey, oil, chicken butt – and then add in just a little at a time. Remember kids: you can always add more, but you can NOT take away!

Mmmmmmercy gracious! Once the PB is to the consistency of your liking, spoon it into a mason jar with a tight fitting lid – no…no? Wait. What’chur gonna wanna do next is stick your finger in the bowl and pop that bad boy in your mouth for some supa tasty YUMS! Now – if there’s anything left…make yourself a sandwich…or peanut butter crackers with some apple slices sprinkled with fresh cinnamon…or make yourself a peanut butter chocolate cake…I could keep going here.

After all of that, if you STILL have some peanut butter left, then you can plop it in a jar and stick it in the fridge. It must go in the fridge or it will get yucky on ya, so don’t forget!

Do write back and let me know how your peanut butter turns out!

Let’s Map It.

Aren’t maps COOL? Who knew that something as simple as roads and names of cities drawn out on paper could add a nifty design element to almost any room? And I love the collage above, don’t you? Lately, I’ve been thinking about map shtuffs and how I could possibly use them for decor here in our farmhouse. As you will see, there are many options! I would personally pick something more rustic than a lot of the following examples, but I do appreciate the inspiration~!

So what types of things can a map do for YOUR room?

The quickest option is probably just to slap a few straight on your walls. You can easily disassemble a road map book and cover one whole wall of your room:

Or your ceiling:

Or turn a few of the pages into lampshade covers, which I think would look especially fab on a rustic chandelier. The below pic shows less-than-awesome lampshade examples of what you can make…but you could make something WAY better than this! (Instructions found here, BTW)

How about covering the top of a small table with a map?

Or if you’d rather it not be so permanent, how about a table covering instead?

You can’t go wrong having your maps framed up, such as with this map of Rome:

Or this map of Paris:

Ooo la la!

But you don’t have to spend a fortune to have a large framed map in your home! Kimba, from over at A Soft Place to Land, posted good instructions with pics on how to frame up your own map:

Then there are murals that you can purchase and take your walls and ceilings to the next level:

Isn’t THAT fancy? Maybe a little too fancy for most of our palaces…

Then there’s this bold shower curtain that is made out of cotton…so I’m really seeing it as a window treatment for a playroom:

And some talented peoples are turning their maps into works of art…Jennifer Collier, to be exact:

Can’t leave this post without some Etsy finds:

Linkies for those things here:

Texas Pillow * Lamp * Coasters * Bulletin Board

Yes, I am all OVER the place today with mappage – but I’m feeling all sorts of inspiration and wanted to share. Please share your most fav way to use a map!

Lemony-Blueberry Muffins

What did you have for breakfast this morning? Did you eat the breakfast of CHAMPIONS?!?

Yes, yes, I know…you’re thinking – MORE MUFFINS??? I just can’t say it enough: we are a family who enjoys the stuff. It’s just so versatile – easy to make – and is super yummy! If you find yourself too busy in the mornings to whip these up kinda quick, then make time for them the night before. You will have no regrets. They keep well. I have a glass pedestal with a dome on the countertop that usually has some type of muffins to tempt us. You could also fridge these if you wanted to go the cold route instead. Ready to get started?

Lemony-Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup canola oil

1 1/2 cups of evaporated cane juice OR 1 cup of raw honey

2 large fresh eggs

The zest of 1 lemon

The juice of 1 lemon (add this if you want an extra lemon ZING! I say – it’s delicious!)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

4 cups of either whole wheat pastry flour OR unbleached white flour (or a mix of the two…just make sure it equals 4 cups)

2 tbsp. baking powder

2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups of either fresh or frozen blueberries

Butter up your muffin pans: one 12-cup pan and one 6-cup pan.

Preheat your oven to 375.

Put all of your dry ingredients into the mixing bowl and stir it together nicely. Then add in all of your wet ingredients on top of that and mix in.

Make sure your lemon is really clean all over – and try to buy organic – and then get to zesting the whole thing. The roll around the lemon to get the juices going, cut it in half and add in the juice from both halves. Do this ONLY if you love lemons and prefer a little lemony kick to your muffins. If you only want an ever-so-slight lemon taste, then only use the zest and save the lemon for something else. Oh, and you’d also need to change this recipe’s name to: Blueberry Slightly-With-Lemon Muffins. Doesn’t sound as good, though, does it?

My step-mom bought us the biggest bag of frozen blueberries I have ever seen. I was delighted! We have really been going through them with these muffins, too…as well as using them in other things (Italian Crostada topped with whipped Mascerpone Cheese – YUM!). Anyhoo, feel free to use either fresh or frozen blueberries in this deal. You can’t go wrong.

Chunk ‘em in!

Stir ‘n mix.

Pan ‘em up! As always, fill up your muffin cups to the very top and be sure to butter the very tops of your muffin pans, too…or else they will get the stickies!

Bake them at 375 for 20-25 minutes. When they are done (test with a toothpick or a cake tester), turn them over on the counter immediately and let them cool slightly before chowing down. If you leave them in the pans, they will continue to cook and brown (or burn?) up the sides of your muffins…which is neither tasty, tantalizing nor tempting. Skip all that mess.

When you think you can handle it, plate up and enjoy! Mmmmmmmm GOOD!

Gotsa Lotsa Corn Husks?

Since all the corn was recently harvested, I can boldly tell you that there is no shortage of corn husks around here! I started thinking about all of the things a person could do with corn husks. I still intend on trying my hand at corn husk dolls, and think that my oldest daughter would really get a kick outta those.

Several years ago, Martha Stewart shared how to make a beautiful wreath from corn husks. I can’t remember if I saw it on her old TV show or if I happened upon it online…but I did get the directions for making it at her website. It is SO simple and SO beautiful  – you really have to try it! If you don’t have a recently harvested field of corn with corn stalks and husks everywhere, then you can also pick up packages of these dried corn husks at most any grocery or craft store.

You basically get yourself some corn husks – either solid cream colored (or I’ve seen the purple tipped color that would be so beautiful, too)…and a straw wreath form and some U-pins. Soak the husks to soften them some so that they will bend without breaking. Then pin them all the way around the wreath form to look like yummy fall ruffles for your wreath. You can find the complete instructions here. In the pic above, you see that the MS team used a really wide, elegant gold ribbon. I <3 that. I also <3 that they kept the shelf real simple: some foliage, some berries, pumpkins and light up a few votives and you’re good to go!

I am kinda liking mine on a pedestal underneath a pumpkin (there is a small bowl hidden underneath the pumpkin to keep it from crushing it all). Anyway, not only was this wreath inexpensive and easy to make – but it also keeps very well year after year.

And there was a really big wreath marked for $4 at Hobby Lobby a while back, so I picked it up (it was the only one for that price!). And then I just added in some fall-ish picks ‘n stuff that I’ve had for ages.

It’s not my total fav, but I do somewhat like it and think it works pretty well! Money is so crazy tight for us right now, so I was glad just to be able to put some seasonal decor out at all.

If you have pics up of your fall decor, do link us up because I’d love to see it~!

H8tin’ on the Doorbell.

If we had had the cute door knocker that you see above, then this post would never exist. But it DOES, so here we go~!

I’m going to use a pretty big word:

HATE.

And thaaaaaaaat pretty much sums up my feelings on our doorbell here.

Back when we were renting for umpteen years previous to building our dream home, I used to sit and think about what our future house would be like one day. I had stupid, romantic thoughts about how lovely it would be to have a doorbell to grandly announce the arrival of house guests. See, back then we didn’t have a doorbell at all. And so when someone would come over, they would have to knock on the door to alert us. Well, that was just too plain. Knocking? How primitive! Plus, what if I didn’t hear them knocking because it wasn’t loud enough? I wanted a melodious ding – dong – ding – ding – dong!

So now, I take that ALL BACK. I do NOT want melody…I do NOT want the noise…and I do NOT want a stinkin’ doorbell! I just want some stinkin’ quiet! And guess what? If someone happens to come to the door and primitively knocks on it and I don’t hear them – ? Oh well! Maybe I’ll catch ‘em next time!

It all looked so blissful and perfect in my mind BEFORE, but reality turned out to be something different. I can’t tell you how many times since we’ve lived here that someone has unexpectedly arrived and rung the doorbell…only to wake up one of my babies after I’ve spent all too much of my time trying to get them down to sleep. Does that make for a frustrated momma? No. It makes for an IRATE momma! I have found that it makes no difference if I either was or wasn’t expecting company, and if they previously did or didn’t know that there were sleeping babies in the house. It doesn’t matter. The problem is that if you see a lit-up doorbell when you arrive at someone’s house, it’s just too tempting NOT to push it. And if they don’t come to the door right away, then it’s just too tempting NOT to push it again – repeatedly! Because of that, I am bound and determined to remove all temptation. So I’ve been researching my options.

Here are some useful alternatives to the obnoxious doorbell:

First off, and this is something that I would love to switch to as soon as we can, and that’s this cute, rustic cast iron bird knocker for the door that you see pictured above. You can click here to see more info on it.

Second,you could try to KEEP your visitors from pushing in the doorbell:

But isn’t that just WEIRD looking?!?

Or how about signage of the threatening variety?

You can actually purchase this from an Etsy shop right here.

But yeah, what a welcome!

My last option – and possibly the one I will need to go with, at least for now – is to totally unhook the blasted doorbell. That will provide immediate relief, I know. Of course, we DID have a friend offer to come bash the doorbell in for us…and after all I’ve been through with that little button – I am about tempted to do that myself!

Do you have a doorbell and does it bother you? Or do you use something else? Give me more ideas!

Just Whip It. [Whip it GOOD]

For the love of butter!! Mmmm…PURE butter, that is! <3

Today I’m gonna show you how to whip up some homemade butter from fresh milk. When I tell people that I make my own butter, I get lots of questions and requests for instructions. People want to know about my Amish Paradise lifestyle (Kidding! We are faaaaar from it!). You will see how easy it is with a KitchenAid mixer. Use whatever you’ve got, though!

Okay, if you are New World and believe some of those new fangled ideas that butter is positively evil, then you may wish to peek at this post through your fingers. I, personally, can not get on board with such thoughts ‘n ideas. Firstly, there is proof from many sources that raw milk butter is quite good for you – and is actually better than the alternatives (fake butter margarine, plastic Crisco, etc.) Your brain is made of fat and definitely needs the good kinds of fat for optimum nutrition. And then we could sit here and talk all day about the vast difference just in TASTE, folks! Oh my goodness! Drinking fresh milk is almost like drinking the most pure form of ice cream that you can imagine. No, I’m not talking about that sugary mess – just a nice, really clean, naturally sweet milk. So the butter that’s made from fresh milk is also copacetic! Yumness abounds!

Let’s get a few things cleared up first: when I speak of butter, please know that I speak of the truest form of butter that you can possibly imagine, and that comes from clean fresh raw milk. Why raw milk? Close your eyes and think about it: acres of (pesticide-free) green, green grass…clean Jersey cows here and there, grazing happily and smiling at one another…their milk bags of normal, healthy size…two calves laugh and jump, leap-frog-style, one over the other while some of the older cows bask just beyond the sunlight under a canopy of trees…

Yeah. That’s not TOO far a stretch from the exact farm where we purchase our raw milk from.

Where does the milk that YOU buy come from? Do you know? It’s okay, if you don’t. A lot of Americans don’t have a clue about that. But if you were to take a trip to one of those ‘other’ farms that is typical of a lot of dairy farms in this country, you might be in for a reality shock. You just might feel so bad for the animals involved or you’d get nauseous looking at the sanitary levels of the place – - that you just may eternally to never buy regular store bought milk again. Yep. I’m serious!

At ‘those’ farms, the cows typically aren’t treated as well. They are treated more like numbers and not living beings. They get routine and unnecessary shots of antibiotics and hormones…the first sometimes causing them to be more sick and the second causing them to produce SO much milk that they are ridiculously full of milk and they can barely walk straight. Since they are “only numbers” and not living beings in the way they are treated, then they sometimes aren’t so closely inspected…and will frequently get mastitis and infections because they are unhealthy. Besides, who cares if they pump the milk out of them when they are sick or dirty because – all the milk is just going to be boiled to death anyway, right?

So then because they are sick and dirty…um…then there is typically pus in the milk. But that’s okay, right? Maybe…not….?

Because of the conditions that the farmers create with their dairy cows, then they have to routinely boil the milk (pasteurize) it, and then to make it “cosmetically” pleasing (and have a longer shelf life?), it is homogenized. That basically means that  they pump the milk through tee-niny holes that create a more consistent texture to the milk. Well, whoop dee doo! I actually LIKE to see the thick, yummy cream rise to the top of the milk.

Please note that I do realize that there probably are some decent, clean dairy farmers out there who don’t practice organic/all natural farming methods. The point here is that consumers should know where their milk comes from…who the farmers are…and how they actually raise their cows or goats. You can try to find a fresh milk local farmer in your area by going to RealMilk.com or by contacting the Weston A. Price Association to find the good stuff. And that’s just the moral to this part of the story: when you make the switch over to fresh milk, you HAVE to know your farmers and the animals who make the milk! You need to know that they are clean and that the cows are happy and healthy! So find your farmer and definitely take a tour of the farm. Take your kids and have a fun day of it!

What all can you do with clean fresh milk? Plenty! For starters, there’s butter (which we will actually make here, believe it or not), buttermilk, yogurt, kefir, sour cream, cheese, etc.

First, separate your cream. It will have risen to the top, of course, and you can either just spoon it out, carefully pour it out or suck it out with a baster. OR you can be like me and do a combo of the 3.

Next, pour into your mixer. It’s not too late to whip it into shape.

Make messes.

And let the machine do its thing! I’m not sure what the variables are here – and maybe someone else can tell me – but sometimes it only takes 8 minutes to get the thicker butter parts separated…and other times I’ve had it going for 30 minutes or more before the butter separated. Still…using the machine is easier than using a hand churn, right? Though doing it by hand would certainly help tone your arm muscles. So you pick! I’ve even read about people who put it in a tightly sealed half gallon Mason jar and shickety-shake it like nuts until it separates. You wanna do that? Go for it! Or better yet, give it to your kids to do and teach them about it while they get to contribute and stay happily busy all at once!

I should also give you a quick warning, too: Please stand by your mixer at this point! When you first turn on your mixer, you will feel like you’re just making whipped cream (and you are)…but when the butter decides to suddenly separate, it happens REALLY fast all at once! If you’re not standing right there to turn down the mixer, then buttermilk will fly up EVERYWHERE as it’s being sloshed around with the thick butter! You have been warned. =-)

After just a little bit, you will see the thicker butter pieces start to come to the center and stick to the whisk, too.

See the buttermilk in there?

This is not like the cultured buttermilk you buy from the store. This is real buttermilk! Just like you saw, it’s the separated milk left over from making butter. You want to save ALL of that yummy good stuff! It makes the best eggs for breakfast – and the best biscuits and pancakes and anything else you can dream up. Use it for almost all of your baking needs and taste the difference!

Once you’ve gotten the buttermilk separated, then you can return the butter to the bowl and start kneading it with your hands. The goal here is to remove as much of the buttermilk as possible to keep the butter from going rancid too fast. Some people put in some salt in their butter to also help in that area. I sometimes add just a teeny bit of salt.

So when you’ve gotten most all of the buttermilk squeezed and pressed out, you can then plop it all into a container of your choice…or even just wrap it in unbleached parchment paper (which I’ve done many times and works well). If you want to make a big batch of butter, then put some in your fridge and freeze the rest.

Mmmm! Smooth like butta! That’s ’cause…wait – nevermind. But what are some of your favorite recipes that call for the real deal? Do share!

Just for kicks, check out some of these antique butter churns:

Like I said, TONED ARM MUSCLES!

And this one is a butter press. Isn’t it pretty? And it would make pretty designs on your butter, too! I keep saying that I’m going to get me some sort of a butter press, but it just hasn’t happened yet. “One of these days!”

Photo credits: I dunno. You tell ME and I’ll give credit!

Dreaming of a Farmhouse Table

Ever since hubby and myself first sat down to design this home, I knew exactly what I wanted in the kitchen and dining areas.

I knew I hoped for an open kitchen…and I wanted to forgo the whole separate nook and formal dining rooms. Instead we put those two spaces together to make one nice sized dining area. And in that dining area, I wanted…

… a Nice – Rustic – Textured – Unique – Solid Wood Farmhouse Table!

Why did I just capitalize the first letter of every word of the previous sentence?

Well, I guess that was my emotions getting the best of me.

You see, I really do get ridiculously giddy when I think about a rough, chunky table mingling with softly upholstered friends.

It makes my liver quiver to think about slipcovered wing chairs flanking the ends of a big table. And truly it doesn’t matter if you can see the wood tones or not. I’d definitely take a distressed painted table. But there IS something to be said for being able to see that yummy wood grain goodness:

I get weak in the knees to see many chandeliers all lined up in a row over top a pretty table!

And it’s a wonderful sight to behold when an old treasure is repurposed into a beautiful prep area in the kitchen.

Ah! So relaxed…yet somewhat dressy all at once.

When a punch of color is added in, it really makes your heart sing, doesn’t it?

Now let’s move on to what I am actually working with in our own home:

Yes, we have not one, but two tables in here. As you can see, they are opposing colors…which is something that I can more than likely fix with some leftover paint in the house. And then we have all of these chairs. I certainly don’t prefer the fold-up metal chairs, though they are nice to pull out in a pinch when we have extra guests dining in. Those will someday be replaced with chairs that have more character.

I bet I could make this all come together better if – as we’ve already established – I paint the two tables to match, then sew up a table covering for it all so the top of it flows better, and then round up a big batch of antique side chairs (all mismatched, but then I could paint them the same color), and then slipcover the wings on the ends. I could get the side chairs for cheap at a local “junk yard” that I’ve perused…and the fabric for the table cover and slipcovers at a local sewing salvage shop. So I’d still need a LITTLE money, but probably not as much as you’d think!

Also, the Nester posted something about hanging up a door on the wall to give interest and help protect it from little dirty feet…and I thought about trying that at our counter.

Do you think it would work for cabinets? The door that I have in mind is an antique solid wood door! I just don’t want that heavy door tearing up our cabinets and falling off, ya know? That would be a little problem. Teeny. But if I could make it work, then it would give that area some much needed architectural interest!

And these chairs were some that I scored on CraigsList! They have some cat scratch damage on the corners and told me that they will be somewhat embarrassed until I could get them either slipcovered or reupholstered.

I have shopped around for a true farmhouse table, and they are so pricey! We are talking $3,000 for a 14 foot long table, folks. I don’t know how YOUR money tree is producing this year, but we are still waiting on ours to catch up! I was ecstatic to find a guy about 15 minutes down the road who builds furniture from barnwood…and from the pics he’s sent me, it looks like good quality stuff! He still wants around a thousand smackaroos for a table. Yes, that is a good price compared to everyone else – but we just don’t have it yet. When you’re fighting just to keep your home, the last thing that really concerns you is a $1,000 farmhouse table. I can never say it enough, though -  – it NEVER ever ever hurts to dream! So I dream big! It’s a lot of fun and it keeps me young ‘n energized.

What have YOU been dreamin’ up big for your kitchen and dining areas?

Photo credits: DecorPad, VermontFarmTables, DecorDepot, Brooke Giannetti, Eleventh of Earl Mar, Home & Garden, Napanee Design

Surprise Bebe Shower

So I have a friend who is pregnant with her first baby. I have known her since way back when (explanation: since our young schoolin’ days). Another friend, Becca, suggested that we definitely needed to give her a party in celebration of her baby boy – and we wanted to make it a surprise!

She WAS surprised! Her hubby did a fantabular job keeping it secret and keeping it safe until the Big Day.

He also stuck around for some fun games and we’re glad he did!

We all sniffed some dipes:

And Daddy showed us that he was already skilled in bathing small babies.

1. Get the whole baby soaped down, including the ears, nose and eyes.

2. Rinse the whole papooska off, paying attention to dunk baby’s head into the water. That also helps remove all the soap from the child’s eyes.

3. Dry ‘n dress however the CRAP you can!

Momma actually did REALLY well with bathing and dressing the baby! She’s so new at this and already at pro level.

We chowed down on some handmade grubs:

Strawberries and a homemade Cream Cheese Dip

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with a Chocolate Mascerpone Cheese Ganache

Grubs not pictured:

Chicken Spread w/Whole Grain Crackers

Deer Balls Fake Sausage Balls (My sis, April, actually made these out of regular ‘ole hamburger and some spices. Somehow, it REALLY tasted like yummy snausage! Anyhoozit, she was supposed to bring deer balls but couldn’t find any at the last moment, so she brought this instead. No one complained.)

Becca and her mother made some cutesie and doubly effective decorations:

The doubly part? These are actually soft baby washcloths that Momma took home with her! How genius is THAT?!?

Next, Becca had a fun table set up so that while Momma opened gifts…

…the rest of us decorated onesies for the baby…

…and created scrapbook pages for his baby book!

{Becca}

{April}

Everyone always wants their picture taken with the star of the show:

…but since he’s still playing inside Momma’s tummy, we had to settle with getting our picture taken with just Momma instead! That’s okay by me! I love her and plus – we’ll be meeting you face to face soon enough, cute lil’ bebe!!