A Christmas Apart

so holidays are a bit depressing when half your heart is half way around the world. I am eternally grateful for our Lord's birth and the Salvation that He brings. That is indeed the meaning of Christmas, and so that is something that will always be alive in my heart, especially around the holidays. Though I'd be lying if I didn't say that it's hard to get into the festive decorating and merriment when there's only yourself to share it with. It is purely through His Strength and Comfort that I am able to move from day to day while Steven's away, and though there's a hole when Steven's away, He is what fills that gap and carries me through the moments where I just want to curl up and fade away until Steven comes home :(

well, enough of the moping I suppose. I did do some minor decorating, mostly just so I could send Steven a picture. I'm pretty sure his room in Iraq is more decorated than our entire apt here, hehe. Me and his family and others have sent him trees and decorations and such, so I'm glad he has a bit of "home for the holidays." He enjoys it too. I'll be spending Christmas and New Years with my parents {weather permitting!}. So anyways, here is a look at my apt "decorations." I actually really like this nativity set, and surprisingly it was from walmart.


click on the photo for larger view

.: left to right :. nutcracker music windup, Christmas ribbon tree {the "star" at the top is an OIF ornament, Operation Iraqi Freedom"}, vase with cinnamon scented pinecones and ball ornaments, nativity, another vase, and framed Christmas engagement photo by Sarah Ortiz. strewn along the front are ornaments and gold chain amongst tree springs from a lil Christmas tree I had growing up :) it lost two of its three feet so it wouldn't stand up anymore, so I repurposed the branches

Baby Shower on a Budget

So this is part C of the series on planning a baby shower... this is where it gets a little crafty... ;) i've added prices along the way, they're rounded a touch, but it all comes out even in the end. there are some miscellaneous costs that I've added at the end of the post as well, mostly if say I bought a whole roll of ribbon but only used a foot of it, or I used something from my huge crafty stash. Items that you could probably substitute for cheaper or make yourself from things around the house, but in case you wanted to go exactly the route I have, I've included the cost. Thus I'll have two totals at the end of the post- one including these extras and one without.

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:: Altered Tea Tins :: {for flower vases}


- empty tins: FREE
- grey ribbon: $4
- discount paper: $7 per pack
- flowers: $10
TOTAL: $21

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:: Framed Art ::


- inspiration: FREE @ stem parties
- clipart: FREE {elephant}
- made in Photoshop: FREE
- frame: $6 @ Michaels
TOTAL: $6

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:: Stuffed animals ::


- pattern: FREE {from here}
- 1/2 yard grey fleece: $2.20
- yellow fleece from remnant bin: $2.40
- batting: $8
- green ribbon: $1
- tags: FREE {or see misc costs}
TOTAL: $14.60

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:: Towel Cake ::


-- {top layer} --
- elephant: {see Stuffed Animals}
- bamboo skewers: FREE {for support, also see misc costs}
- discount onesies: $5
- burp cloth: $2.50 for two {dollar bin @ Target}
- clipart: FREE {see Framed Art}
- yellow ribbon: $2.50
- grey ribbon: {see Altered Tea Tins}
-- {bottom layer} --
- baby blanket: {see Baby Blanket}
- burp cloth: $2.50 for two {dollar bin @ Target}
- ribbons: {see above}
- clipart: {see above}
TOTAL: $12.50

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:: homemade cupcakes ::


- ingredients: FREE {or see Cupcake Costs}
- icing: FREE {or see Icing Tool Costs}
- cupcake liners: $2
TOTAL: $2

Cupcake Recipe:
- coming soon!

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:: Favor Cake ::
*** photo coming soon ***
- cardstock: $5
- grey paper: $1.20
- stamps: $1 {and see misc costs}
- tags: FREE {see misc costs}
TOTAL: $7.20

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:: Baby Blanket ::
*** photo coming soon ***
{this is my gift, so it's only included in the "extras" total}
- discounted dotted fabric: $12.50
- discounted striped fabric: $12.50
- yellow ribbon: $4.70
- embroidery floss: $1
- batting: {see Stuffed Animals}
TOTAL: $30.70

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:: Guestbook ::
*** photo coming soon ***
- old notebook: FREE
- stickers: $3
- clearance stickers: $0.80
- rub-ons: $1
- stamps: {see Favor Cake and misc costs}
- paper: {see Altered Tea Tins}
TOTAL: $4.80

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:: B-A-B-Y letters ::
*** photo coming soon ***
- letters: $1.50 {x4}
- paint: $1 for two
TOTAL: $7

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Miscellaneous Costs:
- tins of tea: $10 {x3} from Republic of Tea
- discounted letter tags: $10 per pack of 120 sheets
- grey ink pad: $4
- yellow ink pad set: $10 for four
- bamboo skewars: $1 for 100
- baby stamps: $10
- old notebook: $1 {dollar bin @ Target}
TOTAL: $65

Cupcakes Costs:
- coming soon!

Icing Tool Costs:
- icing tip: $1
- icing bag: $5
- cake sparkles: $3.30
- icing color: $1.70
- icing bag couplers: $2 for four
TOTAL: $13

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TOTAL: $88.10
TOTAL: $196.80 {w/ extras}

Baby Shower Idea Boards

So this is part b of a series I'm doing on planning a {frugal/spender savvy/creatively inexpensive/etc} baby shower. So after you've narrowed down your ideas, this is where Idea Boards can come in handy for choosing a final theme. My friend had her top 3 and I took it from there and put together a bunch of photos that tried to reflect the overall "feel" of each theme!

**please note: these photos are NOT my own, I picked them up at various websites but unfortunately did not keep track of the URLs. If you know where they're from {some can be seen in the links from Part A, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due! thanks :) **

(1) Elephant Alphabet {yellow, grey, white}

Decor:
- towel/diaper cake
- citrus centerpiece
- flowers in tea tins
- wooden letters
- framed letter poster
- advice/note-to-baby book
- favor cake display
Games:
- baby word scramble
- toilet paper momma
- guess the number of candies in the baby bottle
- bingo
Prizes:
- elephant-theme card set
- "O" cookies
Food:
- tea
- lemonade
- fruit / veggie tray
- scones / finger sandwiches
- cheese / cracker tray
- cupcakes
Favors:
- chocolate kisses
- tea


(2) Spa Treatment {white, vanilla, sage, tan, brown}

Decor:
- white fabric draped
- candles
- monograms
- flowers in tea tins
- washcloth candy
- citrus centerpiece
- towel/diaper cake
- advice/note-to-baby book
Games:
- toilet paper momma
- guess the items in the bags
- guess the number of candies in the baby bottle
- how well do we know the momma?
Prizes:
- handmade stationary
- baby-theme cookies
Food:
- tea
- personalized water bottles
- fruit / veggie tray
- scones / finger sandwiches
- candy bar
- cupcakes
Favors:
- tea bags / tea mugs
- bookmarks


(3) Monkey Letters {bright- green, blue, yellow, brown, orange}

Decor:
- towel/diaper cake
- wooden letters
- framed letter poster
- advice/note-to-baby book
Games:
- baby word scramble
- toilet paper momma
- baby bottle bowling
- bingo
Prizes:
- mod card set
- "O" cookies
Food:
- tea
- punch / cherry limeade
- fruit / veggie tray
- scones / finger sandwiches
- chocolate bar
- cupcakes
Favors:
- rose topiaries

Baby Shower Planning

I'm planning a shower for my friend, Sarah. This will be the first post in a series on how I went about doing that! This might be cross-posted on my cousin's blog when she gets it up and running ;) And the goal is to keep it pretty frugal. Now I have a lot of crafty supplies already in my possession, so using my "stash" won't be factored into the overall cost. Most of the decor/favor items you could easily make too!


THEMES
- "Love Comes Softly"... simple, chic, white & beige
- "Bedtime Stories"... bedtime stories, teddy bears, & pajamas (dress code? everyone comes in pjs? hehe)
- "Due Date"... mod and chic with decor centered around the due date
- "Alphabet Soup"... modern, bright colors, ABCs everywhere
- "Bubbly Ducky"... fluffy towels, bubbles and duckies take center stage here, aqua and yellow colors
- "spa baby shower"... pampering you a lil bit, pastels and brown colors
- chocolates
- lollipops
- the sweetest thing {candy}
- polka dots
- moon & stars
- tea party
- Noah's Ark
- Disney {snow white, mary poppins, cinderella}
- Pooh Bear
- umbrella {baby "shower"}
- baby laundry
- blocks
- baby prints {foot and handprints}
- diapers
- frogs
- {B is for..} bees
- monkeys (first two pix)
- woodland creatures (last pic)
- wild animals... zebra and bold colors are this theme
- owls
- momma bird
- nesting
- elephant alphabet... yellow, white, and grey are the colors of the day
- other animal?
- baby books
- Thanksgiving baby shower... autumn colors
- flowers... spring green and yellow colors
- green baby {eco-friendly}
- sun, lemons, and daisies... where it's all yellow all the time
- cute as a Button
- pickles and ice cream

COLORS... if not already inspired by the theme
- chocolate and pink/blue/yellow/green/pastel
- teal and yellow
- raspberry and lime
- black and white
- black/chocolate, white, and pinks
- neutrals {tan, brown, vanilla}
- pastels
- green and yellow/orange
- raspberry, orange, and brown
- raspberry, chocolate, seafoam
- chocolate and orange
- orange, sky blue, chocolate
- blue, orange, yellow
- black, yellow, teal
- blue, green, black, and white
- yellow and grey
- peaches and pinks

GAMES
- random baby trivia
- word scramble
- guess the gift {each gift is passed around the room and the guests have to write down their guess of what the gift is, then as the gifts are opened they get a point for each one they guessed right}
- bingo {they get a blank card and write in items they think are in the gifts, as the gifts are opened they cross off a box for each one right until someone gets bingo!}
- what's in the diaper bag? {they get a blank page with letters A-Z with a line next to each (ex. A_______, B_______,...) and guests fill in for each letter something they think is in the diaper bag that begins with each letter (i'd have a diaper bag filled with baby items, or photos of baby items) and guests get one point for each one correctly guessed... could also be played like bingo where the guests guess what's in the gifts that could start with that letter and they get a point for each things the mom does receive}
- what's that nursery rhyme? {fill in the blanks or guess the rhyme's title}
- baby animal game {guests match up the animal with what their baby's are called... cat to kitten, dog to puppy, etc}
- toilet paper momma {each guests takes as many sheets of toilet paper as they think wraps around mom's tummy, closest without going over wins!}
- baby shower mad libs {could use a common nursery rhyme/children's story and turn it into a mad lib}
- baby shower name game {write down one name for each letter of the alphabet, guests read off their lists, for each name that more than one person has they have to cross that name off, so person with most number of unique baby names wins}
- baby bottle drinking race {each guest gets a baby bottle and whoever finishes drinking first wins, could also be played initially like Hot Potato, 3 bottles are passed out and then passed around until the music stops, then those three compete to finish the bottle first}
- baby bottle bowling {set up baby bottles like bowling pins}
- guess the number of candies in the baby bottle {closest guess wins, without going over}
- guess the items in the bags {10 brown paper bags have baby items in them, bags are passed around and guests write down their guesses, most number correct wins}
- how well do we know the momma? {multiple-choice baby trivia from when mommy-to-be was little, "how much did she weigh?" "her mom was in labor for how many hours"...etc}


DECOR
- baby sock boquet
- wash cloth lollipop / candy
- favor cake display
- diaper cake / towel cake
- citrus centerpiece {see photo}
- flowers in tea tins {see photo}
- advice book {guests write down advice they have for you either that they have as moms, or best advice their mom gave them...} OR letters to baby {guests write a message to the baby} OR guests can write advice or a note to baby or both :)
- Cloth diapers can be used as place mats or napkins.
- Baby car keys or pacifers add a nice touch as a napkin rings.
- Use baby bottles as cups- Just remove the nipple and add a straw for each guest. It works well to give a baby feel to the occasion and it gives the mom-to-be supplies.
- Baby clothesline- this is a simple yet great way to both decorate and give cute gifts to the mom-to-be. Hang a clothes line as a decoration and string up cute baby clothing items like onesies, baby booties, socks, and outfits. After the shower they can be given to the mom as a gift for the baby.
- Display gifts in a crib, car seat or stroller instead of using a gift table. Decorate a crib or stroller to hold the gifts for the mom to open. {this is if you have any of those already that we could use}

FAVORS / DOOR PRIZES
- handmade card set / stationary /note pads
- tea bags / tea mugs
- bookmarks
- candles
- candy bars / kisses
- baby themed cookies
- terra cotta pots with seeds
- bath salts/soaps/lotions
- rose topiary
{photo from Stampin' Up! catalog}



FAVORS OR FOOD
- tissue baby booties
- lifesaver pacifiers
- baby bootie cups
- diaper candy cups

FOODS
- tea
- baby carriage fruit salad
- punch
- scones / tea sandwiches
- fruit / veggie tray
- cheese n cracker tray
- make your own sundae station
- chocolate / candy bar