SHE: Ready for 2018

Hey Y'all,

We have had the best holiday season. I hope y'all have too. As much as I love the holiday  s, I am so excited to have the decorations down and put away and our house back to normal. Is it just me or does your house seem "empty" without all the Christmas decorations?  What is your tradition?   Do you take your decorations down right after Christmas or do you keep them up until the New Year? 

What about New Year's resolutions.... do you make them?  I don't typically make a list but I do try to reflect on the past year and pray that I am a better person for the year I have had.  Of course after all the holiday yummy treats, healthy eating and exercise should be at the top of my list.  This New Year we will also be welcoming a new baby into the world and into our family.  Y'all we are so excited!! We can't wait to see our daughter and son in law as Mom and Dad.  They are going to be such good parents. Who has grandchildren? We are really looking forward to this next season of life.

There is so much to do to get ready for a baby. One awesome thing we did was freezer meals. Brittney searched Pinterest and Google and found several recipes for foods they would actually eat. I am a big fan of recipes with minimal ingredients, normal everyday meals. They found a good variety of meals that weren't a tweaked version of the same chicken dish.

Some suggestions for you that we found out during our marathon cooking day.
Research your favorites and see how they can be changed to be freezer friendly. Some foods freeze better than others, use quality containers- you don't want to skimp on your containers only to find your meals ruined.  If you are a new mom, you might want to limit spicy, onions, peppers and potentially dairy items at first until you know if your baby is sensitive. 
Some recipes can be prepared to a point, frozen and then when you are ready to cook them you may need to make a batch of rice or top a casserole with bread crumbs or stuffing mix.  Nothing too difficult to do.

The better you plan out your day the easier and productive it will be.
1) Find your recipes
2) Make your grocery list
3) Order quality containers, we used these.
4) Make sure you have adequate freezer space for the number of freezer meals you plan to make
5) Don't forget heavy duty aluminum foil, wax paper and freezer bags

Are you ready to get started on a few of your own?  We will be sharing recipes we made this week. You can always visit our Pinterest boards for inspiration too.  Whether you are a new mom, working mom or anyone responsible for feeding a family, freezer meals are a hit.  With a little prep time, you can get a delicious dinner on the table any night of the week.  Please share with us your family favorites too!

Have a great week-end!!

xoxo,
Amy

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SHE Makes A Lace Crown

  

Hello my crafty friends! Today I'm sharing my DIY lace crown. I'm a little embarrassed to post this because of the pictures, but I'm going to anyway. Just keep in mind that I was in a hurry and didn't have time to clean my craft room before this so there is stuff everywhere!

This is probably one of the easiest, but cutest crafts! If you have, or know, a little girl this is a must!!! (This also works if you’re a self-claimed princess like me – I plan to make myself one.) I made this lace crown for one of my best friend’s bachelorette party this past weekend. She was so cute!

All you need is some lace (I bought a half-yard), fabric stiffener, and hot glue. Optional items are paint, glitter, and something round to shape around (I used an old jumbo wine bottle).

Lay your lace out on a piece of wax paper and cover it in the fabric stiffener. (Helpful hint: the kind I bought pours out so I had to brush it on. I HIGHLY recommend getting stiffener that comes with a spray top) Now this needs to dry. I did this step right before I went to bed one night so it was able to have all night to dry. 



Optional step – if you’re planning on painting your crown keep reading, if not you can skip ahead. I painted hers with gold paint. I wanted to make sure I kept the details of the lace though. So I grabbed my spray bottle (you can pick one up for a dollar at most stores), I poured some paint in there and mixed in just a little bit of water. I then sprayed it onto the lace. It gave it color without weighing it down with paint. I also sprinkled some glitter on while the paint was wet!

Once your stiffener (and paint) is dry trim any off the bottom if you need it shorter. I did this in a few cuts so I wouldn't go too short (ignore my bike and my socks...*embarrassed*). Now shape it into a circle as wide as you want (like I said, I used an old wine bottle) and hot glue the ends together.

Ta-Da! You’re now a princess! We secured hers to her head by sticking bobby pins through the holes in the lace.

Did you make one? I’d love to see it and/or here your tips. Let me know in the comments!

xo Courtney

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SHE Likes Big Bows...

.. And I can not lie. What's up y'all! Today I'm showing you how to make a big bow for the top of your tree! I LOVE making these. I usually make a new one each year and have made a few for the tree at my office. This could be scaled down to a smaller bow if that is what you're needing.

Let's get started...

First you need your ribbon. The key here is WIRED EDGE RIBBON. If the most perfect ribbon that you've ever seen doesn't say its wired then put it down and walk away. I'm not kidding! Without the wire your bow will fall flat and be a sad sad bow... 

This year I stuck with two colors, a red and a glitter gold, but I usually do three.

For this next part it is helpful to have an extra set of arms. It isn't necessary (I did it last year alone), but I promise you it is much easier and quicker. Have your helper hold their arms out to their sides - isn't Hubs just the best helper? Don't go any wider than this - been there done that. It makes a floppy bow, even with the wire, and like we said earlier floppy = sad.

Laying the ribbons on top of each other begin wrapping around and around. This part is personal preference - you can wrap as many times as you want. As you see in the picture I wrapped somewhere between six and eight times and have a nice full bow. You can wrap all the way to the end of the ribbon if you want, I've done it before. You end up with a tighter bow because there are more loops.

Once you've wrapped till your heart is happy, you're ready for the next step. If you didn't use the whole roll cut the ribbon to where it's even with the loops. In the picture above I cut it by Hubs hand, you don't need all of that hanging off the side.

Now take it and fold in half.

There in the middle, cut a slit on each side. Not too deep or it will fall apart!

With the left over ribbon cut a strip about eight inches or so. It'll need to be long enough to tie around your loops and then to tie it to the top of your tree.

So like I just said - tie it (and knot it!) around the middle where you just cut the slits. This is the point of cutting those slits so you can tie it good and tight.

Now for the fun part! It is time to start fluffing! Start by grabbing the top loop on one side and pulling it out. Continue for each of the loops and then do the other side.

See?

Once you have all your loops pulled out work your way through the bow moving loops around and shaping it until you are happy with it!

Now you're done! Just tie to the top of your tree and start decorating!

I hope you loved this tutorial as much as I loved making the bow.

Did you make one? Send me pictures - I'd LOVE to see it!

xo Courtney

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SHE Decorates Last Minute

  

Happy Thanksgiving Week! I absolutely love Thanksgiving (probably because I love to eat!)

For today's post I went to Pinterest (none of these images are my own) and scoped out some of my favorite DIY decorations. Hopefully this will help you out if you're in a last minute bind!

These bottles are great and easy! Simply grab some old wine bottles, or beer bottles if you're looking for something smaller. Spray paint them the color of your choice. Once dry, write on them with a paint pen and tie some twine around the top. Ta-Da!

image via Pinterest

Next up - some simple candles. Grab a pack of fake leaves and use twine or ribbon to tie around candles. You could even use candles you already have. Easy and cheap!

image via Pinterest

This one I love! Use those old mason jar lids (you can buy some if you don't have a stock pile) and spray paint them orange. Tie them together and stick some cinnamon sticks in the middle. Hello adorable pumpkin!



image via Pinterest

This is absolutely adorable and a must (in my opinion) if your family has kids. All you need is a pumpkin and a sharpie. You could use a orange pumpkin if you can't find a white one, or paint it if you're really wanting white!

image via Pinterest

Last but not least - GOLD. My favorite! I drool over all things gold. Pick some pumpkins (real or fake), pinecones, anything really, and a can of gold spray paint.

image via Pinterest

What are some of your favorite fall decorations that are easy?

xo Courtney 

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SHE Makes Sweet Potato Casserole

Hey y'all! I don't know about you but I am ready for Thanksgiving!   One of my favorite dishes is sweet potato casserole. So today we're sharing our tried and true recipe along with a Lisa Bennett Minute sharing some tips!

Sweet Potato Casserole

5 sweet potatoes (cooked)

1/2 or 1/3 stick of butter

1 cup of sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 cup sweet milk

Mix all ingredients well and put in greased 9x13 pan.

Topping:

1/2 stick butter, melted

1/3 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

Mix well and cover the casserole.

 Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until crunchy. 

And here is your Lisa Bennett Minute... 

What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

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SHE Talks Pregnancy

Hey y'all!  As you've probably seen, two of the SHEs are expecting the sweetest babies. Mine is due in just a short three weeks and Brittney's is due in January.

I've always been interested (maybe a little too much) in the process of pregnancy and childbirth. In fact my dream job would be to deliver babies. Thanks to this interest I've spent years reading things and listening to people's experience on their pregnancy. Then as we were talking about a baby and once I became pregnant I started really reading things about it. I thought I had a good handle on what to expect. If you google it you'll find all the normal things - exhaustion, morning sickness, aches and pains, growing belly, etc. But why doesn't anyone talk about the rest of it?

So I started a list of "things no one tells you about pregnancy" and then I asked other people for their input. Here are some of the things that were mentioned in hopes it helps you feel more prepared and know you aren't alone!

• Out of breath - you'll find this one on those typical lists. But I wanted to talk about it because I wasn't prepared for how early I was out of breath. I mean the baby was the size of a grape and I couldn't walk across the house without getting winded. And then how bad it is sometimes. I'll be in a meeting trying to explain something and just saying multiple sentences in a row I feel like I've run a 5k. 
• Vulnerable and Needy/Dependent - This one was big for me and I really struggled with it in my first trimester. Physical touch and quality time are my love languages so I enjoy hanging out with people, but the beginning of my pregnancy I couldn't be alone. It was bad! If hubs wasn't home I'd go to my mom's house or go to the store and just walk around. I needed someone to talk to me on the phone as I drove home from work each day. If someone wasn't able to talk to me I'd either get mad and pout or very upset and cry. #hormones. I don't know if I just got used to it or if it got better. But if this is you, have somebody who is aware of how your feeling so they know to always respond to your texts, answer your calls and so on. Keeping this feeling to yourself isn't healthy!
• Hormones - we all know to expect this one, but holy moly mood swings. The hormones have been WAY worse than I expected them to be. Brace yourself and warn your husband/partner that they'll come.
• Growing feet - some people's feet grow a whole size. I'm not talking swelling. I'm talking that they will literally grow and stay bigger forever. 
• Numbness - these babes are going to get comfortable no matter what. A lot of times that means they are sitting on your nerves and will cause numbness in your legs, arms, etc. It's super fun...

There was a lot more and I'm sure there is stuff that even my friends and I haven't experienced, but I hope this helps you! Pregnancy is such a wonderful process and I'm so thankful that I've been able to experience it. But now I'm ready for her to get here!!

Have you experienced something that isn't on the usual list and also isn't on this list? I'd love to hear about it.

xo Courtney

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