Bows I Whipped Up This Weekend and Tutorial

Moms have asked me how I keep all three of my little girls so adorably dressed. My secret is simple. I don't think you have to spend a lot of money on a toddler's outfit, but if you add a great hair bow and throw on cute shoes, people notice. Magically, large boutique bows attract attention away from the oatmeal and yogurt smeared on my girls' shirts. Couple the bow with a great pair of shoes and people think we always have our act together.

Because I am a DIY kind of girl, I make most of my girls' hair bows. Here are a few I whipped up this weekend.

I made two of the smaller size to use on pigtails.

 

I also made this little cutie pie.

My friend Amanda has her own hair bow business called Wisp Clips. I totally stole this bow idea from her. Imitation is the highest form of flattery. If you don't have the time or desire to make your own hair bows, visit Wisp Clips. Amanda makes adorable bows and each item is $1 off through January 31st. I am not being compensated for telling you about Amanda's Wisp Clip business. I just like Amanda and think she makes really cute bows.

Here Piper is wearing the zebra print bow I made and I don't even notice the French toast and yogurt on her shirt. Distract-a-bow to the rescue once again! Maybe I should start my own hair bow business and call it "Distract-A-Bow-Boutique" ha! Yeah, I'll do that in my free time ha ha.

I learned how to make my own twisted boutique bows by watching this YouTube video. The "twisted" bows pop up taller and fuller rather than lying flat. This YouTube author uses a plastic card template, but I don't. Also, I use alligator clips and she uses French clips. Just use whatever you prefer.

Now if I could just find a glue gun that didn't burn my fingers... : )

Secretly Sneaking in the Veggies

I have three toddlers. Riley is an excellent eater, Sophie is a good eater, and Piper...ugh (said with a heavy sigh)...not so much. Piper doesn't like anything with pasta or spaghetti sauce, no beans of any kind, anything with tortillas, and most things with rice. She refuses to eat green beans, peas, carrots, corn...and on and on. We've cut out her snacks and tried the "Well, she'll eat when she's good and hungry" theory to no avail. It's ridiculous. But, if I were to give her a muffin, goldfish crackers, cheese, or chocolate milk she'd down it in twenty seconds and want more. Piper is skinny. She's healthy and average in height, but she's certainly slimmer than both her sisters because she's just too picky.

A year ago I bought the book Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld (Jerry's wife and mom to three little ones). I tried and liked several of the recipes, but then fell off the wagon and haven't made any in a long time.

Jessica Seinfeld is absolutely adorable - not that we're close or anything; I've just seen her on several interviews and think we'd make great friends in real life. Her cookbook is cute, clever, and full of great tips and recipes for secretly sneaking pureed vegetables into meals. The Today Show's nutrition guru, Joy Bauer, gave the book her stamp of approval and has nutritional advice throughout the cookbook too.

Look how cute Jessica is with her littlest boy. (I like the bag too.)

So, I'm going to start using these recipes again so I can make sure my kids, especially Piper, eat more vegetables. Today I'm stocking up my freezer to have the purees on hand. I'm making butternut squash, cauliflower, and carrot purees. They'll last us two weeks or more because you only add about 1/2 cup of one or two purees to each meal. Though it's not much, it certainly beets (pun intended) not adding any vegetables at all. Plus, it's simple.

A few of her recipe ideas are to add 1/2 cup cauliflower puree the next time you make mashed potatoes. The butter, milk (or buttermilk), and salt completely cover any cauliflower taste. Since both the potatoes and the cauliflower are white, you're the only one who knows they're in there. You can smile while your kids gobble up their taters and you don't have to battle over eating other veggies. I love it! You can also add sweet potato or squash puree to French toast, pancakes, muffins and so forth. I've added sweet potato puree to the coating I use on homemade chicken strips too. Though not in her book, I do add Low Sodium V8 to most of my soups.

I'm excited to start using Jessica's recipes again to help me get out of the dietary rut we've been in lately. Have you ever used vegetable purees in foods? Just this past week I heard Jessica released a new cookbook. I'll have to see what that one is all about.

Happy sneaky cooking!
Jen

Snow Day Activity for Toddlers

Sophie's Mommy's Day Out Preschool is closed today due to snow, so I decided to do a simple and fun activity with her. We wanted to put out birdseed in our backyard for the birds to eat. After reviewing various shapes (which is what she's studying at preschool this week), Sophie opted to make one heart and one star-shaped bird feeder.

 I cut the shapes out of an old Cheerios box. Sophie spread peanut butter on the shape and sprinkled on the birdseed. I punched a hole in each shape and tied them up outside with yarn.

I got all three little chicks bundled up to go outside and play in the snow. We couldn't find the mittens they just played with last night. I didn't think that would be a big deal but I was wrong. After hanging up the bird feeders and throwing a few extra handfuls of seed out around the yard, Piper and Riley decided to pick up snow with their bare hands. They both started screaming and crying. They were yelling, "Cold! Momma - cold!" And that was the end of playing in the snow. It took 15 minutes to bundle them all up and ninety seconds for them to decide they didn't like being cold and wet. Oh well. At least the birds have something to eat.



Happy Birthday Piper and Riley

Two years ago my twin daughters, Piper Jentry and Riley Autumn, came into this world six weeks early.

Piper weighed 4 pounds 7 ounces and stayed in the NICU two weeks. Today she weighs 23 pounds and is 34 inches tall.

Riley weighed 4 pounds 11 ounces and stayed in the NICU three weeks. Today she weighs 26 pounds and is just shy of 34 inches tall.

We celebrated their birthday today and they enjoyed opening presents.

Grandma and Grandpa Cole came to celebrate as did Don and Dolores (Grandma Cole's parents)

Piper and Riley really enjoyed eating the birthday cupcakes their sister Sophie helped make.

These two years have flown by. I'm so thankful I get to stay home with my three little chicks. Sophie is three and the twins are now two. I love this stage and know this next year is going to be wonderful. I'm excited to potty train Piper and Riley sometime this year. Then, we will be a diaper-free home. Mostly, I'm so thankful for three healthy, sweet, and beautiful little girls who love their momma and daddy.

Happy Birthday Piper and Riley! We love you both so very much!

-Mommy & Daddy

Cupcakes for my Birthday Girls

My twin girls, Piper and Riley, turn two today. Sophie wanted to help me make their cupcakes. In the past I poured over various recipes and tried three or four different kinds in an effort to find the perfect one. This year I decided just to use a boxed cake mix and just doctor it up a bit. To a yellow cake mix I added 1 teaspoon vanilla, half of a teaspoon lemon juice and 2 tablespoons sour cream (to make it moist) along with the ingredients it already called for. I bought buttercream frosting and mixed in a few drops of red food coloring to make it pink.

Sophie's favorite part was putting the rainbow candy sprinkles on top of the icing. Her idea of "enough sprinkles" and mine were quite different.

Sophie's Cupcake                                                         My Cupcake

After hundreds of little candy sprinkles rolled all over the counter and floor, I decided we should switch to only using pink sugar glitter.

I'm sure Piper and Riley won't really care which type of cupcake they end up with - they all taste delicious.

DIY Winter Ornament Wreath

The Christmas decorations are packed away and I'm ready for a new year. I decided to create a winter wreath that would look good for January and February. I wanted to make a blue and silver ornament wreath, and the after-Christmas sales were very kind to my budget. Walmart had their shatterproof ornaments 50% off. I purchased varying sizes and finishes in both blue and silver.

I opened a wire hanger and shaped it into a circle. To prevent the balls from popping off the wreath, I hot glued the caps on before stringing the ornaments onto the wire hanger. I alternated sizes and colors and packed the ornaments on tightly. Next, I took pliers and crimped the hanger back closed. Finally, I tied on a black ribbon for a Tiffany & Co. inspired look.

I had so many ornaments left over I was able to spruce up my mantel as well.

This was a simple and easy project. Total cost: $9.

The Cops Arrested Two at Our Home Today (No Joke)

This morning, Christmas Eve morning, after we finished eating our pancakes, our doorbell rang. We had no idea who the two women at the door were and didn't recognize their mini-van. We ignored them, assuming they'd realize they had the wrong house and leave. They didn't.

After they sat in their van in our driveway for twenty more minutes, Judd went out to talk with them to see what was going on. He found them asleep. He knocked on the window and only roused the passenger who tried to wake the driver. The driver was out of it - completely high on something. She finally rolled down her window and spoke very slowly and incoherently to Judd. She tried to explain that they were trying to find some guy named 'D' who lived at our house. Judd assured her she had the wrong home, but she was so high and confused, she kept insisting that he used to live here and must have moved (we built our home and are the only ones who have lived here).

Judd couldn't help them because they were so out of it. They continued to just sit in their van in our driveway and wouldn't leave. So, after ten more minutes, Judd called the cops. I'm so glad he did. When the police arrived they noticed right away that the women were high and their car had major damage from where they hit something. The van wouldn't even start and the axle was broken. They gave the driver a sobriety test, which she instantly failed. The second girl failed her sobriety test too, but began arguing with the police officer insisting she was sober. They checked the van and found a toddler girl laying down, asleep, in the back seat. Her mom was the woman protesting. No wonder - she didn't want to lose her little girl. They also found the pills that made the women high.

Poor innocent little girl. I wanted to slap some sense into that mom and bring the little girl inside where she could get warm and drink hot chocolate, but knew that wasn't going to help. There's no way that mom could hate herself more than she already does. She knows she's choosing drugs over her daughter's safety. But the little girl is safe - today. The police told the mom to call a relative to come get her little girl, or they would have DHS come take her because both women were going to jail.

A sister and brother-in-law showed up as did the owner of the van (appeared to be the little girl's grandpa). They said the women called last night saying they hit something with the van and were also lost (because they were out of it). The family had been worried about them all night, not knowing where they were. Who knows how long they were sitting in our driveway before ringing our doorbell this morning. They could have been their all night. The little girl was taken away by her aunt, the two women were hauled off to jail, and the broken-down van was towed out of our driveway.

We live in a nice neighborhood, so this was way out of the ordinary. I'm sure our neighbors are all very curious as to what was going on - and rightfully so. There were three cop cars, a tow truck, a strange van in our driveway, and two relatives' cars - all in front of our home. I'm so glad Judd called the police. Those women will probably wake up in a jail cell tomorrow - Christmas morning - and have much to think about as they sober up. May they find the peace they're searching for. May the little girl know she is a precious gift to this world. May the police officers know how thankful we are for their service - for protecting that little girl, and anyone in the way of a vehicle driven by someone under the influence.

I'm hugging my girls and husband a little tighter today and looking forward to a lovely Christmas.

Jennifer

Farewell, Fake Ficus - Hello, Beautiful!

If you don't have a plastic tree tucked in a corner of your home, odds are you either used to have one, or know someone who did. The artificial ficus tree filled many a bare corner for years.

Thumbing through decorating magazines and browsing designer blogs, it dawned on me that the plastic ficus tree has been replaced with decorative tree branches. I don't know why it took me so long to notice my plastic tree was very dated. I did buy it fifteen years ago, and they had already been a popular trend for years before that. Some of the updated looks are tree branches that appear to be flowering, such as this one provided to houzz by Lola B's.

I also like this one by Restoration Hardware:

My do-it-myself self walked over to the nearby woods with a saw in hand - hoping not to scare any of my curious neighbors. I found some gorgeous large branches, removed the leaves, and pruned away until I was satisfied with the final shape. I cut off the fake ficus tree as close to the bottom of the trunk as I could, then jabbed the real tree branches into the foam filled planter. Finally, I wrapped the planter in some fabric. I really like the new look.

Before:

After:

Best of all...project cost: $0 dollars!!! Absolutely free, Baby!

Master Bedroom Makeover

I only have few "before" pictures of my master bedroom because it was, well, rather unlovely. Drab. Dark. Blah. When we built our home seven years ago, having a door from the master bedroom to the back patio was a popular feature. Upon moving in I realized the door created a decorating dilemma and was completely unnecessary.

A few before pics:

 

I've longed for this Anthropologie bedding for four years but refused to pay that much money for it.

Their price - $500 (plus shipping because some of these items are online only)  



I found similar bedding on clearance at Macy's. The duvet cover, 2 king shams, and 2 Euro shams were $118 (including shipping). I sewed my own bed skirt using copper-brown faux silk fabric - $40, and added more of that same fabric as a drape above the bed - $10.

My price - $180   

I found a $400 goose-down duvet (the insert that goes in the duvet cover) at Macy's on sale for $120. I exchanged some of my credit card points for a $100 Macy's gift card and bought it for just over $30 (with tax). I've never slept so good. It is pure comfort - like being hugged by a fluffy cloud.

I completely covered the door leading to the patio with a curtain panel matching the ones covering my two windows. I covered my small folding table desk with layers of muslin and burlap, then angled it in the corner. I took the large mirror off my dresser and leaned it vertically against the wall. I love it!

 Attention to details - the burlap layer on my desk is gathered using one of my grandmother's brooches.

I found Chris Madden lined faux silk drapes in Aspen Gold at JC Penny's for $59 a panel. I bought them, new, off ebay for $17 a panel. I told you here, how I created my own "wrought iron" curtain rods.

 You can learn how I made my own burlap-covered framed corkboard here.

Now I feel I'm in a designer magazine bedroom and pinch myself when I see how beautifully it turned out.