Back to School celebrations!

I strongly believe in celebrating special occasions. And going back to school is a big occasion! We celebrate in a special way each year. Some years we go out for ice cream at our favorite ice cream shop. Or order pizza and eat on the patio ~ finishing off the evening by roasting marshmallows and making smores on the fire pit. Some years we go out to a fancy restaurant and toast (complete with glass clinking). AND some years we just plan a special menu at home.

This year we chose the latter.

For the menu we had:

grilled NY strips
roasted carrots
herb rubbed baby red potatoes
garden salad

german chocolate cake for dessert

We ate in the dining room and decorated the table. Some of the decorations included: a globe, old texts books, student dictionary, pencils, pewter trophy, vintage sheet music, alphabet flashcards, ruler, whistle and an apple. Pretty much just anything I had laying around that lent to the theme of 'School'. You will be surprised how much you have when you start looking around! We have quite the spread in ages (ranging from 2-16) so I tried to make the decor applicable to everyone. The possibilities for grade school aged children is limitless! Dr. Suess Books, flash cards, markers, crayons, desk name tags as place cards, brown bag or lunch box themed dinner served IN the brown bag/lunch box. SOOOO many fun ideas!

For our dinner, I also printed off 'First Day of School' photos from past years. I matted them on scrap book paper (made them double sided) and hung them from the lighting fixture over the table. It was fun to reminisce about the past first days and the girls shared memories. My favorites were of their kindergarten first days...so sweet!

It doesn't take a lot of work to make a meal special and memorable. I'm sure my kids won't remember the table scape or decorations, but they'll remember how proud their mama was of them and their adventure into another new and exciting school year. :)

Easy outdoor decor for winter

Most people tuck their pots and planters away for winter. But I wanted to share some super easy ways to spruce up your pots and keep them pretty all winter long!


On our property we have white pine, blue spruce, yews other evergreens. So when the weather turns cold and continually staying in the 30s or below- I walk around the yard with my clippers and a bucket.

I cut low lying branches from a variety of trees. Cut larger bows, you can always trim them down later. Feel free to also collect dead branches, sticks and pine cones...these also work nicely in the planters.

I fill a few buckets with water and set them in garage. Then I soak all my clippings overnight. This ensure they last through the season and not dry out prematurely.

The next day I lay out all my branches in groups. And then start layering the pots.

Blue spruce bows hang nicely so I put those on the bottom. And then top those with yew clippings. I stand some white pine clippings in the back. White pines are airy and thin - so they basically just add height.

Start nestling in some pinecones. I sprayed painted some branches white, but red would be pretty too. Stick those into the dirt to add more height and color. If your planters have no dirt- you can use styrofoam, just place it on the bottom of the pots before you start. You may need to anchor them down with some rocks. 

You end up using more than you think...so do your spring trimming early and cut back more than you think when gathering branches!

Beautiful birch wood I saved from when we had to cut one down! 

If you end up needing more bulk...you can always fill in with faux greenery. I added a few sprigs from the craft store. But for the most part this project was FREE!!! So easy and cheap!