Housewarming Party

We're kinda sorta settled into our new home and wanted to finally relax and celebrate the new digs. It's been almost four months since we moved in so it was time. Boxes are unpacked, most rooms settled. There's still tons to do in my opinion, but we can finally take a much needed break.   Our party was last night and it was so much fun!  We had tons of great food, Veggie trays, fruit trays, cheese and crackers, Italian sausages, Turkey meatballs and Mini cheese pizzas. I made 50 Champagne Cupcakes and Chocolate Chip cookies for dessert. The kids enjoyed fresh popcorn as a snack with juice boxes. 

We had a nice lady come and help prep the food for us. She's in the background making the cheese tray.  I found the cutest paper plates at Target that were white with black and white polka dots by "Cheeky."

The drink station area was filled with White and Red wine, a Wine Spritzer (made with equal parts Moscato wine, Sprite, and Frozen Pink Lemonade) and there was beer/water/juice boxes/diet drinks in metal buckets on the ground.

The dessert area with more cute paper plates from "Cheeky," pink and mint Anchor napkins, and all the cupcakes and cookies.

I found old timey Lemon and Cola Lolly Pops from Home Goods and thought the kids would enjoy these.

More drinks on the ground, beer, water, and juice mostly.

The popcorn for the kids. The idea was if they got bored they could all bring some popcorn upstairs and watch a movie. I think my kid was the only one that grabbed a bag around 8 and put on Spongebob.

My oldest son hand knitted some long garland for the mantle and we made little gold pom poms for either end of the mantle.

I found lots of flowers at the grocery store. Nothing makes a home more beautiful than fresh flowers.

Little white roses were put in salt and pepper shakers on the dining room table.

The foyer with white roses and a sign that I printed for the housewarming party favors.

The party favors were a cute little idea I found on Pinterest. I'll share that with you tomorrow. Here they are in a little tray.

"Thanks for Warming Our home, Here's something to warm yours." This little sign I made in Word using a marble background, a picture of some Ranuculus and a blue font.  I hung it with twine and black clothespins.

The party was so much fun.  So many nice friends came and really had a great time.  We hope to throw many more parties in the future and really break in our new home and create lots of fun memories.

xo
Cathleen

Beautiful Spring

Seems like Spring is coming to an end too quickly. The temps are rising and the flowers are in full bloom. Our time has been spent enjoying the outdoors and leaving our home "to-do" list lingering. Yes there are still things to do. Like fixing rot on the exterior, adding gutter guards, touching up paint on the front porch, etc. For now we will just pause and smell the flowers until we muster up more energy for the never ending list.

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xo

Cathleen

Happy St. Pat's 2014

What a lovely day for a Guinness! Joe and I got to experience downtown Raleigh's St. Patrick's Day parade for the first time. It was great fun!  The sun was shining right on us and it felt great! 

This cute pup was a highlight for me with it's green tutu!

Our neighbor friends were so kind to invite us over on Saturday night to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with the kids.  I found a cute idea for these brownies on Pinterest. They were originally from Better Homes and Gardens online. I found green mint frosting packets that I just added to my home made buttercream frosting recipe.  They were quite tasty!

Of course I decked out my mantel for March! Here is my cute wooden "Kiss me, I'm Irish" hanging plaque. This year I couldn't find a nail on the wall for it so just propped it up.

My 7 year old son picked these daffodils from the forest behind our house. They just look so lovely for March. They smell great too! They are deer-proof, so my white ceramic friend will be keeping to himself.

My green "kissing ball" that I made a few years ago is tied above the mirror. It usually stays up all spring.

It's also nice to have some greenery in addition to fresh flowers and about a month ago I propagated some philodendron from the plant in the kid's room. It's been doing great up here because it receives lots of indirect lighting. I water it about once a week.

It's raining water and ice here today, but looking forward to warmer weather by the end of the week. Happy St. Pat's to you and yours.

May Love and Laughter 

Light your Days

and warm your heart and home.

May Good and Faithful friends be yours,

wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world

with joy that long endures.

May all life's passing seasons

bring the Best to you and yours!

-an Old Irish Blessing

xo

Cathleen

DIY Cleaning Recipes

After a series of weeks where my kids have been coughing indoors due to typical winter weather and being stuck inside, it dawned on me that we need better indoor air.  Then it got me thinking about all the chemicals we use in our house just to clean it, but we end up leaving the air and eventually our earth more polluted.  My kids have sensitive lungs so it was high time I got rid of all the nasty store bought cleaners and replaced them with all natural cleaning supplies.  

My cupboard went from this:

BEFORE

To this:

AFTER

The following four recipes are awesome and you'll find them easy to make and easy to use. Here is what you need to make the following recipes for Glass Cleaner, All Purpose Cleaner, Toilet Cleaner, and Laundry Detergent. 1) White Vinegar, 2) Corn Starch, 3) Borax (found in your laundry aisle, 4) Rubbing Alcohol, 5) Liquid Castille Soap (sometimes found in the natural food aisle or beauty aisle) 6) Washing Soda (found at your grocery store laundry aisle,) and 7) Natural bar soap like Dr. Bronner’s, Ivory, or other natural bar soap,) and 8) Essential oil like lemon oil.

You'll also need three large spray bottles and a glass jar to hold your laundry detergent. I found these at Target.

Glass Cleaner

• 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 2 Tbsp Cornstarch
• 4 cups warm water

Combine everything in the spray bottle using a funnel if you have one. Shake well each time you use it to make sure the cornstarch doesn't clog the spray bottle.  I used an old cloth diaper to clean my windows and they have never looked so sparkly!

All Purpose Cleaner

• 2 tsp borax
• 1 tsp washing soda
• 2 tsp liquid lavender castille soap (or orange)
• 4 cups warm water

Combine everything in the spray bottle using a funnel if you have one. Shake well each time.  You can use as a bathroom cleaner, floor pre-treater, or kitchen cleaner. Works great to disinfect.

Heavy Duty Toilet Formula

1 1/2 cups borax
2 cups white vinegar
5 drops lemon essential oil

You can combine everything in a squirt bottle or add directly to the toilet to clean. You can let sit overnight to remove rings from the toilet too.

Laundry Detergent

• 2 cups Borax
• 2 cups Washing Soda
• 2 bars of Dr. Bronner's Castille Bar Soap grated

Mix everything in a glass container and use 1/8 cup to 1/4 cup per load depending on size of wash. It's so easy even your kid can help!

This amount of detergent should last for at least 36 loads if not more.  I'm happy to use less plastic and have cleaner clothes with no dyes, perfumes, or chemicals going into our water supply!

BEFORE

AFTER

I can't wait to try more natural DIY recipes for cleaning. It's been fun cleaning the house without feeling like I'm going to pass out from harsh chemicals. :)  Happy Cleaning!

xo
Cathleen

Happy Thanksgiving 2013!

It's a nice quiet Thanksgiving this year, just the five of us cherishing our time together as a little family. It's a chilly 40 degrees today. The kids and I snuggled up this morning to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. Afterwards they got bundled up and rode their scooters around the neighborhood. It was the perfect Thanksgiving morning.  

This photo was taken yesterday, a little Pre-Thanksgiving Indian fight. I handed out their feather hats and an all-out pretend bow and arrow fight ensued.  My seven year old sure does know how to enact any kind of battle.

I have been thinking all month long to share our Thanksgiving decorations, but I'm finally getting around to it. Better late than never. 

In the center of our mantle is our "Home Sweet Home" embroidered towel made by my Grandmother and our little Pilgrim boy I found at a local Thrift shop.

Our two wrapped cones were purchased from Home Goods last Thanksgiving. I think it gives a nice balance to the mantel. The brown pumpkin is also from Home Goods.

This little pot of purple Mums was purchased from Kohls last year too and the golden leaf garland is from Michaels.

I love this little crow felt and embroidered picture from Home Goods. It reminds me a little of Halloween but was in the Thanksgiving decorations, so I'm sticking with it. :)

Our meal preparation is under way in the kitchen today. I just finished making my Mom's fruit salad.  And I am thankful for Joe, who doesn't mind getting his hands dirty in the kitchen. He's the bird man (oh and the gravy man) in our family.  I will prepare the stuffing, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, cranberry sauce, green beans, rolls, and pies.  But thankfully Joe has already diced up the onions and celery for me. Score.

I went ahead and set the table. Shhhh, don't tell anyone I didn't iron the tablecloth. And please don't mention it to my Southern Mother-in-law who would be appalled. Our kids won't notice and nobody's coming over! hehehe.  

Each child's hat is placed on their plates...and kinda silly that I chose such big plates for them that completely hide their Pottery Barn turkey placemats (that I also didn't bother ironing.) Don't judge me. :-)

Here's hoping you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Are you shopping tonight for Christmas? I still can't believe the stores are opening up tonight.  Who shops on Thanksgiving?  I'm happy to report most of my shopping is done and I'll be enjoying board games with the kids tonight.

Happy Thanksgiving ya'll!!

xo
Cathleen & family

Happy Halloween 2013!

Happy Halloween to your home from ours! We had so much fun over the weekend at our annual Halloween party!  Here are some photos from the party.  

Joe and I went as Officer Mendez (AKA Pornstache!) and I went as Alex Vause from the Netflix series Orange is the New Black.  We had to much fun piecing together our costumes.  Joe's was pretty easy. I found his shirt and pants at Target, the mustache, badge and handcuffs at the local Halloween store, and his walkie talkie was one of kid's toys.  A few nights before the party I gave him a nice clean flat top and dyed his hair brown. He added some additional black spray.  For my costume I found the tan scrubs on Amazon and I already owned a pair of black doc martens.  I made a name tag using Word and clipped it on using a plastic badge that belonged to my son.  I lucked out and found a cute pair of black glasses at Target in the optical department.  Tomorrow I go in to have my eyes checked and will probably get them filled with a real prescription!  

The kids were adorable dressed up as Darth Vader, an ice cream cone, and Harry Potter!  

A few days before the party the kid's helped decorate a Halloween haunted house.  I found it at Target on sale for $4.99 and it was totally worth it to see them cooperating. 

For the party I made three desserts. The first was old fashioned popcorn balls placed in cupcake wrappers. You can find the recipe here.

I thought Rice Crispy treats would be another kid favorite so I whipped up a basic batch following the recipe on the cereal box and adding Halloween sprinkles

And these sugar cookies were my favorite to make, but I learned my lesson the hard way that I should cover them with Seran wrap after frosting them. The faces got a little smudgy.  Next time, I'll make the faces right before serving!  

For drinks I made Martha Stewart's Sangria in a glass pitcher I found at Target. It had a cute chalkboard square already on the front to add "Vampire's Blood" in chalk.  It was complete with dry ice.

The kids are here waiting for guests to arrive, enjoying Chex mix and drinks.

I didn't want to post pics of our guests for privacy reasons so I left those out, but we had a big pot luck complete with eye ball pizza, vegetarian chili, lasagna, and salad.  The kids enjoyed Halloween juice and the adults indulged in wine and sangria.  Afterwards, the kids played outside and danced inside to the fog machine.  Then they all got swings of the ghost pinata.

During our fun pinata game the fire department showed up because the kids were having too much fun with the fog machine and our smoke alarm went off.  I should have known to answer the phone afterwards or wait for the call, but instead I was snapping the photos outside of the cute kids. It all worked out for the best since the kids got to tour the fire truck and the firemen happily accepted popcorn balls from us.  Overall it was a great party.

Happy Halloween kids! Stay safe tonight!

xo

Cathleen