Sunday, December 28, 2014
CHRISTMAS MORNING IN THE KITCHEN
This year for Christmas we decided to keep it simple and do the {Something You Want, Something You Need, Something to Wear & Something to Read}.
For the last few months Kensi has been asking where her kitchen is since playing with one at grandma and grandpas over the summer. She already has some play food and appliances, but we both feel she's ready and needs a kitchen. Plus her gentle reminders each day are also helpful, but also very informative as she explains why she in fact needs her very own kitchen.
We started looking for one we loved and of course it had to come from Pottery Barn and cost a freakin arm to buy. As much as I adore the farmhouse three piece kitchen from PBKids there's no way we could swing that this year. So the search continued and we got a phone call from my mom telling us about a one piece kitchen from Costco. It fit our budget, but I just couldn't handle all the color. It would literally drive me insane to look at it and yes I did consider painting it, but I wanted an easier project to work on. That's how we got to the IKEA Play Kitchen. It's adorable and simple. It just needed a little character. I looked to Pinterest for some inspiration and fell madly in love with SniderMoneyPit Blog’s white and gold kitchen makeover. No more looking was needed, this was a done deal.
I really thought this would be a challenge to work on with Kensi around all the time, but since we leave everything until the last minute we did all this the last few nights leading up to Christmas Eve.
We used spray paint for the sink, stove rim and feet; swapped out the handles for real hardware that we also sprayed and added some fun knobs for the stove. We used white spray paint for the body of the kitchen that wasn’t already white and finished the countertop by sanding it down and using leftover stain. Our gold spray paint began chipping and scratching almost immediately, so I would suggest priming those pieces like SniderMoneyPit did to save yourself the pain of having to do it again later.
We set the kitchen up next to the tree on Christmas Eve. I couldn’t handle the excitement of giving this to her. She slept great, I on the other hand could not sleep a wink! When Christmas morning finally came Mike was ready to go with the video camera and captured her reaction. I really thought she would be over the top and just freak out, but it was the complete opposite. Kensi and I came downstiars and checked out the empty plate of cookies, Kensi understood Santa must have come. When we walked over to our tree she calmly walked closer and said, “Oh! My kitchen!” She was very matter of fact, like this is what I wanted and now it’s here sorta thing. She was very excited and immediately started making coffee and cookies for us. Of course Little Miss Protective wouldn't let either one of us touch her kitchen the entire day...not even after we made an awesome Santa pancake....life with a 2 year old, sheesh!
Monday, December 22, 2014
FINN AND FAM
When we found out we were expecting Finnley we knew we wanted to have newborn photos taken, but more importantly we needed something that included family photos. We haven't had any family photos taken of all of us ever, other than something quick on the phone. So now was the time. We chose a photographer who does more lifestyle photography and we just love how they came out!
A huge thanks to Marla of Marla Lynna Photography for taking the time to capture some of our crazy and silly everyday moments, especially with our sassy Kensi girl. We couldn't have asked for anything more.
Saturday, December 20, 2014
LITTLE DEER ORNAMENTS
Last year we made homemade Christmas ornaments for our tree and to give as gifts. We used clear bulbs and Kensi filled them with glittered pom poms. They were a huge hit and very easy to do, especially for Kensi babe.
I love homemade ornaments as they give a cozy feeling to a tree. This year we made a deer ornament to go on our trees. I saw a pin last year on Pinterest and knew we could re-create this little gem.
I saved this project for Kensi and I to do after the baby was born. I try and set aside an activity of some sort each day for her and I to do together. I want to try my best to give her some one-on-one attention and not let her feel like she's been replaced by the baby.
Bear with me when it comes to the photos, we did this at night and the lighting was terrible.
Kensi gets so excited for projects and crafts, and this was no different. She felt like such a big girl since we were using the hot glue gun. She thinks it’s a very special project when the glue gun comes out :)
We purchased all of our supplies from Michaels and used tree twigs for our antlers.
We started by making two small dots using white paint for the eyes. You could use googlie eyes if you'd like.
Then we cut our twigs down so they would fit into the hole on top of the spool and hot glued them in.
We used twine to create our looped hanger and also hot glued that into the top.
Lastly, we hot glued our little red noses on, used a black sharpie to finish our eyes and wrote our names and date on the bottom.
These are so simple and cute, but definitely require some adult help with the glue gun. You can make them even more rustic by staining the spools before hand which I wish I had done, but that just gives me more ideas for next year!
After making our ornaments, it reminded us to make our reindeer food. You can find how we make ours here. This time we pulsed it in a small food processor to make the confetti smaller. I was finding sequined Christmas trees in our front yard all summer long!
Thursday, December 11, 2014
GRAHAM CRACKER TOFFEE
This is one recipe that is ALWAYS made during the Christmas season. If this isn't made then it just doesn't feel like Christmas. Many people make Saltine Toffee and I have never been much of a fan, because growing up with my mom's graham cracker toffee always took the cake!
I adore this recipe because it's very quick and easy, but I have learned the hard way if you don't follow this recipe exactly you will get a burnt version and it ruins it completely.
Yesterday, Kensi got then opportunity to make this with my mom for the first time. Of course Finn-Man was hungry as well so I didn't get pictures of the whole process, but it was pretty sweet capturing these two in the kitchen together.
Graham Cracker Toffee
Makes 48 pieces
Makes 48 pieces
Unsalted Butter, room temperature for greasing the pan
1 box of Nabisco or Honey Maid Graham Crackers
1 cup (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar
3/4 cup Nuts such as almonds or pecans, chopped (optional)
3/4 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Use room temperature butter to completely butter the insides (bottom and sides) of a jelly roll pan (10x15x1). Line the entire bottom with graham crackers (then break into ¼ pieces with a knife so that the entire pan, including the corners and sides are lined with graham crackers).
In saucepan combine the 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of brown sugar. Bring to a boil for EXACTLY 5 minutes. Then, pour over graham crackers, sprinkle with chopped nuts (if using) and bake for EXACTLY 8 minutes.
Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Let it set for about 3-5 minutes and spread melted chocolate over graham crackers.
Let it cool for about and break into random pieces. Keep in an airtight container or bag.
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