My sister-in-law Anne is at it again with her holiday decorations! She put up her Easter decor just a few days after St. Patrick’s Day. What do you think? How does your family celebrate Easter?
Easter Decorations
DIY Home
St. Patrick’s Day Decor
Those who have been following Nashville Wife for a while have heard me mention my oldest sister-in-law, Anne, and how she likes to put decorations up for every holiday. Last year, I posted pictures of her Valentine’s Day and fall decor.Yesterday afternoon, Anne sent me photos of her St. Patrick’s Day decor. (She isn’t Irish and doesn’t celebrate St. Paddy’s Day, but she still enjoys decking her house out in green shamrocks.)
She has a few small chalkboards that she writes cute sayings on for each holiday, and she bought me one for Christmas. I hadn’t used it yet, but when she sent the pictures, I was inspired. The first three photos are from Anne, and the last one is mine.
DIY Lazy Susan
Regina, one of my faithful blog followers, sent me this picture of her DIY Lazy Susan. I thought it was incredibly clever and that you all would enjoy learning how she made it. (It’s simple and cheap!)
She bought all the supplies at Dollar Tree. For each Lazy Susan (there are three in the picture above) all you need are the following:
2 round metal cake pans
1 bag of marbles
Pour the marbles into one of the cake pans, and spread them out. You’ll only need enough to fill half the pan. Nest the other cake pan on top, and it should spin around perfectly. That’s it!
Regina uses her Lazy Susans to store baking supplies. (Looking for a handy way to organize your spices? Click here to check out my spice cabinet organization tutorial.)
Kitchen Organization without a Pantry
We currently live in a two-bedroom rental house with limited storage space. In order to keep our quarters clean and organized, we are very selective about the items we buy, and we try not to keep junk around.
Our kitchen isn’t huge, but the amount of cabinet space it has is amazing. Whoever designed it did a fantastic job. Since we moved in almost two years ago, I have moved things around several times in order to find the most ideal setup. I think I’ve finally found it.
Of course, the majority of our cabinet space is devoted to dishes, utensils, pots, and pans. However, since I don’t have a pantry, I had to set a few cabinets aside for food. These are the two cabinets above the sink.
And these are the cabinets to the left of and above the stove. The first contains spices, assorted cooking and baking supplies (honey, molasses, baking soda, baking powder, peanut butter, and extra spices), and sweets. The second holds cookbooks, vitamins, and our “junk” box (medicine, scissors, tape, batteries, and other random items). Have you seen my spice cabinet organization tutorial? Watch it here.
I buy in bulk to cut down on grocery store trips, so I needed one more shelf for food. This is one of the two largest cabinets. it is currently my favorite cabinet because it has unused space. What a beautiful sight!
How do you organize your pantry items?
Car Seat Ponchos
Over the holidays, we visited with lots of friends and family we hadn’t seen in a while. It was wonderful. On New Year’s Day, we had breakfast with a young mom who has two little girls and one on the way. She is a full-time mommy who also teaches music lessons.
As she was bundling her kids up to go home, she showed me the matching car seat ponchos she had sewn for them. I was intrigued, so she explained how they work. Hers are made of two layers of fleece, and she puts them on her children when they load up into a cold car. The ponchos fit nicely over car seats, and kids can easily remove them if they get too warm.
Pretty genius idea, isn’t it? This post isn’t an advertisement, but if you’re as intrigued as I was and would like one or more car seat ponchos (either for your own kiddos or for a gift) my friend would be more than willing to make them for you. She can make them with one or more layers, depending on the climate.
Our Nephew’s Nursery
Many of you know that Mr. Handsome is the oldest of seven children. So far, he and his sister Anne are the only ones who are married, although Joseph is engaged and will be tying the knot next month.Anne has a two-year-old daughter named Ana, and she just gave birth to a son! She had the nursery ready before the baby was born and was pleasantly surprised to find out that decorating a boy’s room was just as much fun as a girl’s room.
What do you think of the finished product? Anne and her husband moved Ana to a toddler bed so they wouldn’t have to buy a new crib, and the other items are either gifts or thrift store finds.
Happy Fall, Y’all!
Now that it’s officially fall, it’s the perfect time to share my sister-in-law’s autumn decorations. Anne is incredibly creative and has a knack for making Pinterest ideas come to life.I have previously shared her decoration for my bridal shower, Valentine’s Day, her son’s gender reveal party, and her daughter’s second birthday party. She texted me these pictures of her autumn decor earlier this week, and I knew you all would enjoy them.
Do you decorate the house for fall? Putting pumpkin spice wax squares in my candle warmer is about as far as I go, but I do enjoy looking at autumn decor.
Turning 2 with Winnie the Pooh
My niece just celebrated her 2nd birthday! As usual, my super creative sister-in-law Anne went all out. She always manages to create adorable decorations, using items that she or another family member already owns. (Be sure to check out the photos from her gender reveal party if you haven’t already.) Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make it to the party, but we enjoyed seeing photos.The theme was “Turning Two with Winnie the Pooh.” Several weeks ago, while we were visiting Mr. Handsome’s family, Anne was telling me all about her plans for her daughter’s Winnie the Pooh themed birthday party.
“I guess you can call it ‘Turning Two with Winnie the Pooh,'” I said, thinking that she had probably already thought of that.
“That’s absolutely brilliant!” Anne exclaimed.
Remember when I posted about Anne’s interest in cake decorating? Well, her Winnie the Pooh cake definitely “took the cake” (excuse the pun…LOL). I was absolutely stunned when she texted me this picture. Can you believe that she has only decorated a few cakes in her lifetime and hasn’t had any sort of formal instruction?
My niece, Ana (or “Girlsy,” as we call her) loved the cake. Anne tries to limit her daughter’s sugar intake, so eating an entire piece of cake was a huge treat for Ana.
Even the snacks and drinks were Winnie the Pooh themed…
Anne loves to decorate with chalkboards (or chalkboard paper tacked onto bulletin boards). She created a chalkboard of Ana’s current favorites.
For those who haven’t heard, Anne and her husband are expecting their second child, a boy, in October.
Mother’s Day Craft for Kids
Footprint Butterfly Flower Pot Mother’s Day is less than one week away. Are you looking for a last-minute craft for your kiddos? If you are, you’ll love this post!
We don’t have any children (yet), but I helped my sister-in-law Anne with her Mother’s Day craft. (It’s supposed to be from her 21-month-old daughter Ana, but of course we ended up doing all the work.)
Anne found the idea on Pinterest, and I think it’s quite adorable. Kudos if you can get your child to sit still long enough to put paint on the bottoms of their feet and press their feet onto the flower pot. My niece wouldn’t have any part of that, so we made paper cutouts of Ana’s feet.
We positioned the cutouts on the flower pot and lightly traced them with a pencil. Then we used paint brushes and acrylic paint to fill them in and draw the butterfly’s body.
Once we finished the first flower pot, we spent a few moments admiring our handiwork and proceeded to make seven more. (In addition to her mom, Ana has two grandmothers, three great-grandmothers, and two great-great-grandmothers.)
The flower pots we used were seven inches tall, but you will want to measure your child’s feet before going to the store. This craft works for children of any age! (Click here to see the “grownup craft” that my husband made for our moms.)
I’m not wearing makeup in this photo, so don’t look too closely 😉
No-Sew Fleece Blanket
A couple weekends ago, I was invited to a friend’s baby shower. I checked her gift registry, but most of the items have been purchased, so I decided to do a homemade gift. After thinking it over, I came up with the perfect idea: a no-sew fleece blanket!I visited the fabric store and bought an adorable animal print pattern for one side of the blanket and a plain brown piece of fleece for the other side.
I made my blanket 1-1/2 yards, but looking back, I would have preferred it to be only one yard, as that would have been the perfect size for a car seat or stroller cover.
The general rule of thumb for no-sew blankets is…
Infant: 1 yard
Toddler/child: 1.5 yards
Teen/adult: 2 yards (or 2-1/2 for taller adults)
What do you think of the finished product? (The feet belong to Lena, my 13-year-old sister-in-law). The tutorial video that I followed is below.
