halloween festivities

we had such a great time tonight with our sweet friends & neighbors!

we passed out candy to lots of cute little trick-or-treaters,

and then moved the party out back to roast marshmallows at the fire pit.

here are some pics to re-cap our halloween evening...

our little one was a pirate....ARRRRR

we snapped this shot on his pirate ship in the backyard!

he loved keeping an eye out for the little witches, animals, superheros, & princesses

our cute little neighbors were a robot and an army general!

and we all had a fabulous time hanging out & making s'mores at the great fire pit that hubby built!

 the guys got into the costume theme..kinda...a viking, a sailor, and a baylor bear!

my favorite part of the night was the surprises that we stuck on the trick-or-treaters candy. 

i wanted to make sure that each one knew that Jesus loved them. 

so that's exactly what the note said. they were super easy to make...

we just typed out the phrase and a coinciding Bible verse,

cut them out with cute scissors,

 and taped them onto the candy bars

one little boy said" o, wow, she gives stickers, too!"

the greatest joy in the world is knowing the love of Jesus,

so i decided to take this chance to share it with all the kiddos who stopped by.

hope all of you had a blessed time with your family and friends, too! 

a handyman and a housewife

On Saturday afternoon Hubby & I hosted a 

couples wedding shower for our friends,

Lauren & Matt.

{theme} 

Handyman & Housewife

{invitations} 

{image courtesy of SanLori.com}

{decorations}

we used my red kitchen aid mixer & Hubby's toolbox 

as the anchors in the centerpiece.

then we placed other tools

(i.e. hammer, wire cutters, tape measure, etc.)

around his toolbox and kitchen utensils

(i.e. spatula, wooden spoon, whisk, etc.)

around my mixer.

 the finishing touch was

a vase of yellow gerbera daisies and mums inside the mixer.

the total cost of our centerpiece was $4.00!

all we purchased were the flowers!

we were also able to use another toolbox as our
serving piece for plates, napkins, and silverware.

i thought they were both absolutely adorable!

a great way to carry the theme from the invitation

to the party.

what are your favorite themes for wedding showers? 

preciousness in a pot

i just l.o.v.e. throwing a party

whether it's for friends or family,

inside or outside,

parties are such wonderful times to celebrate!

Easter is one of the biggest celebrations of the year!

Jesus defeated death and rose again so that we may

have the opportunity to accept Him as our Savior

and live eternally with Him in Heaven.

That's the best reason of all to celebrate!

So, yesterday we had 20, yes 20, family members at our

home to celebrate Easter!

What a joyous occasion!

God blessed us with the most gorgeous day,

and every detail from the wind to the blooming azaleas

to the perfect temperature topped off the day.

Just like God's details, I love the 

little details at a party.

They make the party especially festive!

Because we were hosting quite a few
people, I decided to assign each guest a place
to avoid any chaos as it was time to be seated.

As you are doing so,
be sure to consider each person's needs

A few ideas...
Do they enjoy being outdoors?
Will they have enough room to get to their seat?
Who would they most enjoy visiting with?
Would they feel comfortable sitting with people they
may not know very well?

I'm a very visual learner, and like to map out
the seating as I make the final decisions.

Now, onto the fun stuff!

I was browsing HobLob last week, &
 their great Easter discounts in search of place cards.
Instead, I found these darling cupcake picks...



too bad I wasn't planning on baking Easter cupcakes...

wait a sec! those would be perfect.
and those wheels kept on spinning...

I was suddenly on the hunt for a few specific items
to create the most adorable place card setting you've ever seen.
I hurriedly grabbed a bag two bags of Easter grass
(momentarily forgot that such grass is never ending)
and headed to our local lawn & garden store for terra cotta 3 inch pots.
They ended up not having any in stock,
but my wonderful mom bought 20 and brought
them to me on Saturday.
(one other thing you'll need is jumbo marshmallows)

Now, here we go...

{1} write guests names on the cupcake picks

{2} poke each one into a marshmallow

depending upon your preferred height, use 1,2, or 3 shmallows

{3} place in terra cotta pot & cover with Easter grass
you won't even need an entire bag of grass for this project

 ta-da! preciousness in a pot

{5} set around at each spot and wait in anticipation for
your guests' squeals at their adorableness :)

hope you enjoyed this little party planning tid-bit!