New Ornaments 2016

A new year brings new ornaments, check them out!

My Newest Treats

Because these new ornaments are treat themed, I put them all on my kitchen tree.

Top Left:  I found this star-shaped tart while treasure hunting this past summer.

Top Right & Bottom Left:  These adorable ice cream bars are available at Wal-Mart for .99 each.  I bought Baby Girl and myself each a purple and pink.

Bottom Right:  I found this little cake at Hobby Lobby (half off) for $4.

(You can click here to see the rest of the kitchen tree)

Baby Girl's Ornaments

Baby Girl's ice creams are also on the kitchen tree, but the rest of these are hanging on the big tree in the living room.  The two angels were found treasure hunting and the ice creams are from Wal-Mart (see above).  The little dog was another half-off Hobby Lobby find for $4.

The Little Man's Ornaments

I try really hard to be perfectly equal between both kids, but had forgotten about the ceramic train that I found treasure hunting....So Little Man ended up with six ornaments to Baby Girl's five....oops! 😕 

(All of the ornaments pictured here are hanging in the living room) 

Top Left:  A Hobby Lobby pirate ship (half-off, $4) and the ceramic train found treasure hunting.

Top Right & Bottom Left:  Two Hobby Lobby planes, half off at $3 or $4 each.  I love these metal planes because they are durable.  No matter how much playing goes on, they hold up 😉

Bottom Right:  These little plastic trains are another Wal-Mart find at .99 each.

Side Note:  I just bought the two Wal-Mart trains this year (as with everything else in this post).  As I'm writing this, I'm going back through previous year's posts in order to provide relatable links.  Why does last year's ornament post show the exact same two Wal-Mart trains?????  Okayyy...obviously I like the trains...enough to buy them twice....(and now I can remember buying them last year too) but there is only one of each color on the tree.  Really. I just checked.  

So.....yeah.  Either I'm going crazy or the tree is eating ornaments.  I'll let you know of any further developments 😂😂😂

Me (again!) & Husby

Left:  I really wanted to get myself a pirate ship like my Little Man, but there was only one left in the store.  So I was a nice Mommy and let him have that while I settled on a blown glass pirate chest 😊  This was the last of the Hobby Lobby tour and was also half-off for either $3 or $4.

Right:  Husby's ornament this year is a lazer cut piece of wood depicting a welder at work.  I found this ornament On Etsy in the PalmettoEngraving shop for $8.99.  They have some great pieces, check out the shop!

(You can click here to see the rest of the living room tree)

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So those are the ornaments I purchased this year (I mean I think so, but clearly I'm losing credibility 😅).  Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this holiday post, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2016

Spring 'Gardening' :D

Remember those Photos From the Workroom I posted recently?
Today I am sharing is a little bit of what I was up to......

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Ok so here's the thing; I like flowers (obviously).  They are fun to work with, fun to decorate with and fun to grow...well sometimes they are fun to grow  :D

I like having flowers and plants outside, but I really don't always like maintaining them.  I think it's because of my current life stage with little people to take care of.  It's best to water early morning or evening in order to avoid the heat of the day, but those are the times of day where I'm the busiest.

Let's face it, there is no way I'm getting up any earlier than I absolutely have to, and evening time is quite busy for me.  I'm already feeding kids, cleaning up, bathing kids, cleaning up, etc, etc, etc.  And heading out to water has seemed like just another chore.  Of course Husby helps with anything and everything, but for him the growing season = the hot time of year at work also.  When he gets home he is worn out and I like him to rest ;)

So what to do?  I had all of these empty pots sitting on the porch and absolutely no desire to plant a thing.  I thought to myself, "Too bad I can't just stuff those pots with faux flowers and call it a day.......Heyyyyyyy, maybe I can......"  :D :D :D

And so my newest (and possibly craziest) idea was born.  For about $10 I purchased and 'planted' a whole bunch of flowers.  I also raided a few supply bins looking for greens and any leftover stems.

Guess what?  I'm actually liking how it turned out.  Every single day my flowers are in bloom, and I haven't had to water a single time.  Kids pick the pretties?  No big deal, stick them back in.  Temp gets a little low overnight in early spring?  Who cares!

I think I could really get into this in the future.  This time I just sorta grabbed anything that was bright and pretty, but with a little planning I could really make up a nice patio!

Check out these photos and decide for yourself:

(Photos enhanced with the Vivid filter available in PhotoShop)

Iris & Daffodils

Hydrangea & Roses

Asters & Sunflowers

Pink Asters

Red Asters & Crocus

Crocus

Blue & White Pansies

Pansies


This was a really easy project to accomplish.  I simply left in place the old dirt, decorative stones and marbles from last year and used wire cutters to trim my floral stems to the desired length.  Once cut I stuck them into the soil and called it a day.

*Husby may or may not have been chuckling the entire time :D :D :D

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I hope you enjoyed my latest craziness, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2016

Elf on the Shelf (2015)

A few Christmases ago, Baby Girl received the plush version of Elf on the Shelf from her Aunt Mary and Uncle Jim.  Baby Girl decided that this elf is a girl and named her 'Elfie'.

Elfie lives a relaxed life with us; we don't restrict her to her shelf, and she is allowed to be cuddled and played with as often as Baby Girl likes.  In fact, she spends the entire Christmas season sleeping on Baby Girl's pillow......

.....It's really strange though, even though Baby Girl carefully places her on her bed each morning, Elfie somehow manages to roam the house.  Elfie gets herself into all sorts of situations, take a look!

 Hanging from the ceiling fan & hiding in the tree.

 Upside down from the kid's shower curtain & hiding out in Baby Girl's stocking.

 Parade of trucks.

A meeting with the zoo animals & a soak in the Barbie tub.

Under the bed & in a wreath.


This isn't all of the fun we have had with Elfie, we also decided to make her a festive skirt to wear.  Stay tuned to read all about the latest in elf fashion!

I hope you enjoyed this holiday post, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2015

Kitchen Christmas Decor - Update 2015

Welcome back to my holiday kitchen!  Read on to see what's new this year....




New Ornaments

This year's additions to the candy tree included a couple of pink and white candies and a few snowflakes.

The candies were found at Wal-Mart for $1 - Baby Girl and I each got one of these.

The snowflakes came as a surprise in my package of decorative cookies that I received from the Oodlekadoodle store (on eBay).  I already had two little gingy figures and an artificial peppermint that I decided to glue into the center of the snowflakes.  The small additions really helped the snowflakes blend in to my candy tree.

Like these snowflakes?  I saw them in packs of six at Dollar Tree.  Leave them plain or upgrade as you wish.

(You can click here to read more about my decorative cookies and find the link to the Oodlekadoodle store)

Peppermints

These peppermint salt and pepper shakers look adorable displayed with jars of faux candy canes and gingerbread men.  The shakers were a treasure hunting find at .50 for the set.

(You can click here to read that treasure hunting post)

Gingy Towel

I received this towel as a gift from my parents last Christmas.  Since it contains a recipe in the design, I made sure to lay it out flat next to one of my gingy boxes.

Gingy Rug

This rug was a birthday gift this year, also from my parents.  I think it looks absolutely perfect in front of the stove!

Gingy Table Cloth

Another birthday gift, this table covering is absolutely adorable!  I loved the way it looked on the kitchen table...until I realized that if I left it there it would be completely stained up by the end of the day.  The Little Man does his best, but those not-quite-two-year-old hands tend to spill and drop quite a bit ;)

I decided to be really clever and use it as a Christmas tree skirt instead.  That way it could still be out and enjoyed in the kitchen, but stay much cleaner.  

Or at least I thought so anyway....The Little Man finished his snack....climbed down from his chair....walked over to the tree skirt....picked up a  corner of it....and proceeded to use it as a giant napkin and wipe his entire face!  Sigh....:D

Gingy Cloth Tree Skirt

Here is the table cloth turned tree skirt complete with our stuffed gingy family.  Once the face wiping fiasco was over, the cloth has stayed nice and tidy :)

(You can click here to see the rest of my kitchen Christmas decor)

Hope you enjoyed the post, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2015

Mother's Day (2015) - How We Celebrated

I had a great Mother's Day! Baby Girl and I spent Saturday morning treasure hunting (photos coming soon) and then Sunday was spent with a whole lot of relaxing.

Husby is good about making sure I get to sleep in every Sunday, but this time he made breakfast in bed too.  I actually lazed around and watched HGTV while he did the cooking.  Then he and the kids brought me food, cards and an adorable Kindergarten gift (that you will see below).

Family Humor:  If Mommy gets breakfast in bed, the kids think it's a party!  They were both in bed next to me before I even got all of my food.  Then they sat there like two little birds each waiting in turn for bites of my eggs!  I called out to Husby that he didn't need to bother with serving them individually, as fast as they were eating up my breakfast he could just add their food to my plate too! :D

-Read on to see photos from my weekend-

Polka-Dot Box

Mother's Day weekend started early for me when I came home to find this adorable gift (from my Mother & Father In Law) waiting for me.  Can we just take a minute to admire the polka-dots and the 'rose' bow? Two of my favorite things right there!

Stained Glass Seashells

THIS is what was in the box!  It is a stained glass piece created by Papa himself!  My entire master bathroom is decorated in seashells, so this fits in perfectly.  Right now I have it hanging in front of the big mirror, but one day (when I have one in my bathroom) I'll hang it in front of a window.  If you think this is beautiful now, you should see it with light passing through the glass!  I can't decide what I love more, the watery blue sections of glass or the Nautilus - that's the big seashell in the center.

(You can see the rest of my master bathroom decor by clicking here)

Wildflowers

Husby made sure to bring me a big bouquet of wildflowers.  I don't know what these are, but they smell soooooo good!

Family Humor:  When Husby asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day, I told him I would like it if he found me some flowers.   It was after spending a day in the woods mushroom hunting that he came home covered in dirt with a huge bouquet of these.  He said he had to climb down into a ditch to pick them, but he got the job done.  He is so awesome!  :)

(You can read more about the pretty vases they are in by clicking here)

Pencil Holder

Baby Girl decorated this beautiful pencil holder at school.  She made sure to take it out of her backpack and hide it under her bed until Sunday.  (I know this because she asked me not to look under her bed or behind her bookshelf in her room - I made sure not to look or notice anything!)   She also made me me a few beautiful cards.  The cards will be going into my scrapbook, but the mug now sits proudly on my desk. I love it!

Dinner

I didn't have to cook dinner either, Husby took care of that by grilling chicken shish kabobs with lots of veggies!  He created an Asian inspired marinade this time by mixing up teriyaki and a few other seasonings - it was really, really good!  And since he grilled them outside, the mess was minimal ;)

That was my wonderful Mother's Day weekend, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2015

How We Celebrated - Easter 2015

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!
Read on to see how we celebrated:

Easter Brunch

We are finally a table of four!  Little Man has recently decided that he wants nothing to do with his highchair anymore, so now he sits at the table with us.  This was my first holiday where I got to set the entire table :)

I used my gold chargers and clear glass plates that my Mom gifted me with a couple of weeks ago.

You can click here to read more about my table settings.

Easter Grass Table Settings

Originally I was going to use my white plates, but then had the idea of adding Easter grass to each setting.  I like the way the glass plates hold everything in place, but still allow you to see the prettiness.  A couple of bunny Peeps later and this simple design was complete.

Fun Fact:  I have no idea how to 'properly' set a table. I don't even know if the arrangement in this photo is correct. 

If I had to I could look it up of course, but my concern has always been more toward making things look pretty.  Sometimes I put the fork on the left, sometimes the right.  My napkins change their position frequently and who knows where the drinking glass is supposed to go?!?!  I don't! :D

Whenever I go to a restaurant, it's already done and my Mother-In-Law or Sister-In-Law usually takes care of it at Husby's parent's house (I come from a casual family, Husby's family is of a military background).  This one time though, Leslie wasn't there yet and Mama-In-Law asked me to help with the table....Cue the sound of crickets here - these people have two forks and everything!....Luckily though one of my kids started fussing and needed attention.  That provided me with just the amount of stalling time I needed and then Leslie walked in!  Whew!!!  :D :D :D  Hahahaha!  .....I feel that a few needed lessons might be coming my way once I publish this post! 

 Side Note:  I'm sure I can pick up the table setting business pretty quickly, but there is no way I will ever be able to fold a fitted sheet like Husby's Aunt Jan - That is just a thing of sheer, utter amazement.  One time on vacation she folded my sheet for me and it was six months before I would use it again.  I couldn't get over the perfect 90 degree right angle corners!  How did she do that?!?! :D :D :D

I may have just inspired a future post...I'll call it my 'casual secrets' and I can tell you about how I never iron anything, sort of neatly roll my sheets into the cabinet and well, I guess you already know about the table setting!

Okay, okay, moving on now....:D

Easter Egg Centerpiece

I layered a large glass plate onto more Easter grass at the center of the table and topped it with a bowl of plastic eggs.  I wanted something simple and colorful, this was perfect!

Click here to read more about my Easter eggs.

Easter Smoothies

For brunch we had a breakfast casserole and fruit smoothies.  I chose these items because they were both things that I could prep the day before.  That way all I had to do on Easter morning was pop the casserole in the oven and turn on the blender.  A nice brunch was quickly ready and I got to spend time watching the kids while they opened their baskets and hunted for eggs.

Smoothies:  Low fat vanilla yogurt, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries in the blender.  A little marshmallow Peep made them cute and fun.  I take mine plain, but Husby likes (light) Cool Whip on his.  Baby Girl likes (light) Cool Whip and a few sprinkles.  Since I don't add any sugar to my smoothies I don't object ;)

Breakfast Casserole:  After greasing a small baking dish with canola oil spray I first layered (uncooked) shredded potatoes.  I followed by pouring over a mixture of eggs (I used three eggs and three egg whites) and low fat cheese and then sprinkled on some green pepper and mushrooms.  Then I baked it at 350 for about 25 minutes.

Bunny Cake

This was made from a Pillsbury lime cake mix.  If you like lemon cake then you will like lime as well, they taste pretty much the same.

I iced the cake with Pillsbury lime icing and topped it with a couple of bunny Peeps.  Green sprinkles and a handful of green Starburst jelly beans made a nice 'lawn' for the bunnies.

Baby Girl's Hard-Boiled Eggs

Yep, we colored a few real eggs too!  

Baby Girl had a fun time dying these pretty pastel eggs.

Little Man's Hard-Boiled Egg

I thought it was only fair to share a picture of Little Man's handiwork as well.  

He was very proud of his ability to destroy eggs ;)

That's some of the fun we had on Easter weekend, I'll be back next week with photos from our glow-in-the-dark egg hunt!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2015

Valentine's Day (2015)

We had a sweet and simple Valentine holiday last weekend.  

Read on to see how we celebrated!

 Pretty Valentines

I was all set to purchase Baby Girl store bought Valentines.  I was sure she would want Frozen, but she surprised me by deciding to make her own.  Yay!

We chose three different pieces of scrapbook paper and I used a cookie cutter to trace the heart shapes (I helped with the cutting too).  Baby girl then went to town with her glue stick and some Dollar Tree glitter foam hearts.  She had a good time deciding which colored Valentine to give to each classmate, and wrote their names all by herself.

Click here to see how the leftover foam hearts were used for our Valentine Decor.

 Valentine Jar

Baby Girl surprised me with this beautiful tissue paper covered canning jar that she made at school.  I love it so much!  It goes really well with the rest of our Valentine decor :)

 Valentine Treats

I put these little gift bags together for Husby and the Kiddos.

The kids each received a tiny box of chocolate.

Baby Girl was delighted to find a lip gloss and alphabet rubber stamps that she could use to practice her writing with.

Little Man enjoyed a set of animal finger puppets.

Husby was gifted with a bag of Ghiradelli chocolate.

You know I like to keep it fun and simple, each of these gifts was put together for $5!

Fun Fact:  Little Man's finger puppet set contains an elephant, tiger, monkey, zebra and giraffe and are intended to be used as bath tub toys.  I had both kids in the tub and was trying to teach Little Man the correct animal sounds when I picked up the giraffe......what the heck does a giraffe say????  

Thanks to a smart phone, I was able to sit with them and Google at the same time.  It turns out that adult giraffes don't make noises, but the baby ones do!  We found a recording and they thought that was pretty funny :D

 Husby Gift Wrap

This Walgreens bag makes me smile more than any fancy paper and bow ever could!  

He even double knotted it ;)

  Chocolates

My milk glass pedestal bowl is now filled up with Lindor dark chocolate.  Husby bought me two bags....I'm pretty sure it's because he plans on 'helping' me eat them..hee hee hee!

Tiny Boxes of Chocolate

These are the miniature chocolate boxes from the kid's gift bags.

Baby Girl is our 'Love Bug' and Little Man is our 'Rock Star' :D

Stained Glass Heart

Baby Girl also received this beautiful stained glass heart from her Papa.
He made this from scratch all on his own.  Gorgeous talent!

That was our Valentine's Day, I hope yours was just as sweet!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2015

Ice Cream Party 2014

I'm back today with another gift basket post.

This one was for my nephew that turned 8 back in September.  Yes, September....As in 4 months ago....And now I'm finally getting this post up and published!

It seems like I always have at least 20 unpublished drafts hanging out in my blogger dashboard at any given time.  And in addition to that, my calendar notebook full of titles I want to post...for every week of the year.  Not to mention what's in my head...we won't even go there!  Ahhh, so much content, so little time!  Anyway.......

The theme for the basket was 'Ice Cream Party', take a look:

Supplies 

Left:  A colorful red basket, white paper filling, a shiny noise maker and party napkins.

Party napkins are a great way to add pops of color to your presentation in addition to serving as package filler.  You can't have a kids party without balloons, so these napkins were perfect.

Right:  I filled the basket with a glass sundae dish, chocolate sauce, sprinkles and various candy toppings.  The sprinkle container was cute so I left it as is, but the bags that the candy came in were not all that attractive.  I fixed this by purchasing a couple of clear plastic containers instead. 

I had ice cream too of course, but it had to stay in the freezer ;)

 

  I arranged the basket items on top of the shredded paper.  You can see that while the napkins serve to cushion the glass sundae dish, they also add a festive feel to the basket.

After wrapping the basket in cellophane I made a bow with yellow curling ribbon and the noise maker.  I thought a spoon would be a nice touch so I added that to the bow as well.

(For tips on taming your cellophane click here to read this earlier post)

Gift Tag

Instead of purchasing a card, I wrote and printed out this little poem.  A piece of green scrapbook paper as the background and a couple of ice cream stickers completed the tag nicely.  To attach the tag I used a hole punch and some yellow curling ribbon.

**Bonus**
  You can laugh at me too, let me set the scene:

  Husby walks in to the kitchen and tries to start talking to me when I exclaim, "Wait!!!  Stop!!!  I gotta write this poem down now!!!"

Husby says, "You gotta do what?!?!"

To which I responded, "This poem!  I just thought of the poem for Logan's birthday gift, I have to write it down now!"

Husby is used to me, so he just twinkled his eyes and shook his head.
The life of a 'creative'  :D :D :D

And now back to our basket......

The Finished Basket

From what I heard, the ice cream party basket was a success!

What kinds of gift baskets have you put together this holiday season?  Send me your pics and I just might feature you in an upcoming post.

Until then, happy holidays & thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2014

Fall Happenings/ My Life In pictures (November 2014)

 How have you been spending your beautiful fall days and cozy fall nights? 

Scroll down to see a few of the things going on around here in a 'Month of Pictures'.......

I found this pumpkin cider at Aldi.  They have the best little fun seasonal items!  It was pretty good, and Baby Girl enjoyed clinking her glass with Husby and I ;)

Apparently somebody does not share my views regarding fall decor.  I don't know exactly what the scarecrow lady did, but it looks like the Little Man won.....:D

We got a package in the mail, all the way from Idaho.  My Uncle Joel sent these homemade preserves; Crab Apple Syrup, Crab Apple Jelly, Apple Sauce, Plum Jam and Apple Butter.

Not only was I excited to receive these treats from his kitchen, but would you look at those pretty jars?  You know I'm going to be re-purposing those in some way! ;)

The Crab Apple Syrup we used right away on our Sunday pancakes, but the rest we saved for Thanksgiving.  I enjoyed having pink syrup, more syrups should be pretty colors :D

(Stay tuned for a Thanksgiving dinner post, coming soon!)

I celebrated a birthday with lots of treats!  

Baby girl made sure to put exactly 34 candles on my ice cream pie.  There was so much smoke we thought the smoke detectors were going to go off!  :D

In addition to a yummy pizza dinner, I was very excited to receive a copy of The Sims 4!  I have been playing The Sims for more than a decade now, and it is a major creative outlet for me.  I spend so much time designing in these games; architecture, landscaping, interior design, photography.....I pretty much go into every single pre-made lot or house and re-design it to my tastes.  It is so creatively satisfying!

I also got a new Christmas ornament; Ariel of the Little Mermaid.  Ariel is both my favorite Disney princess and favorite mermaid.  I still have my Ariel comforter from when I was nine years old, and yes I still use it!

Speaking of Christmas ornaments, I'll be posting soon with my holiday decor and tree decorating tips and tricks.  The last two days have been spent cleaning up from Thanksgiving/ fall and getting out all of the Christmas.  I have lots and lots to share!

Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2014