A Shower Fit For an Autumn Princess!

“Babies are a blessing” my mama always says! That’s one of many things she and I agree on whole-heartedly! So when I learned my brother and his wife were expecting a daughter, I jumped at the opportunity to welcome their little blessing with them! A Royal shower was in order, because nothing less than what was fit for a Princess would do! My sister-in-law accepted my offer, and the planning was underway… somehow though, the date of the Royal Party got pushed back to one week before the little princess’s due date. I was nervous about how close the party was, but decided that it was a grand opportunity to play up the Autumn theme! So I set to work.

I shopped my deals and coupons for prizes for games, cardstock and ribbon for cards, labels, and so on. I hit up Michael’s end of summer sale, where everything was 80% off, and purchased decorations, trays, candles and such! Supplementing with a couple 40% off coupons for items that weren’t on sale, I picked up necklaces to honor the Mother and Mother-in-law, and charms for a necklace that was to be for the expectant mama to wear during labor! I sent out my invitations 3 weeks before the party, because I wanted everyone and their neighbor to celebrate this joyous moment of husband and wife becoming a family!!!

It was an hour to midnight, and everything was prepared for a grand occasion! Flowers had been purchased earlier in the day, instruction cards placed in their appropriate spots to guide guests through the activities of the shower, raffle tickets stamped for the diaper raffle, chairs cleaned, cider purchased, furniture moved, a tea tray assembled, disposable eatery bought, themed napkins acquired, autumn apple butter boiled, sieved and jarred, plus two hearty fall soups, whole wheat herbed foccacia bread, tortilla chips and hummus made! I even made the largest ever batch of Molasses Chocolate Almond Meal Cupcakes, that flopped, and we had scurried off for an emergency dessert replacement. Then I happened to check facebook one more time before retiring for the evening…the princess had made her debut!

My heart skipped a beat, and then it skipped two! I was excited for my new niece, Mercedes Ann!!! And then I was troubled by all of the work for a shower doomed to failure at the lack of the guest(s) of honor!

I slept on my worries and excitement, and woke with determination! I could not back down from a shower that was already set with food and everything, from planning and collaboration for months, the culmination of effort would not turn up idle...the shower would go on!

As the guests arrived, they dawned necklaces for the traditional “Don’t Say Baby” game! A total of 4 guests made an appearance, as everyone else had caught wind of the arrival and skipped the shower, but we continued with our laughter and good food!

Despite the dwindling guestlist, the diaper raffle was still a huge success! We tallied up 10 packages of disposable diapers and 6 fuzzibuns cloth diapers for the new little one! Three guests won prizes for their contributions!

We continued on with talk of our own children, designing some quilt squares for her Royal Highness, writing a word on a framed piece of paper of attributes we pray Mercedes will be blessed with as she grows, and filling out return envelopes for thank you cards to help out the new mama.

Because there was no guest of honor to shower with gifts and love, we all took turns picking gifts up off the table and opening what others had brought. Every gift was pictured and recorded so that the new mama would still know who had sent what, but it was so fun to open all the gifts together! The laughter was contagious as we read cards intended for a mother-to-be!

The last piece of the baby welcoming was a lovely charm necklace. I intended to honor both mother and mother-in-law of the guest of honor with their own necklace first; a pendant of 3 rings to represent the generations, but was only able to bestow one...the other would have to be delivered at another time. I found this charm necklace tradition from my mother, and I still have the ones presented to me for the labors of my girls to pass down. The significance of the charm/bead necklace is that every guest brings a charm or bead that represents the child, and in our case, a blessing they would like to bestow upon her. The mother is then to wear the necklace while she labors to be reminded that those people who brought those beads support her, and pray for her in her time of intense, but beautiful pain.

All of these charms and beads were given to the baby’s grandmother, the next of kin at the shower... it was sweet and joyous! Thankfully, we had also thought ahead to write down our blessings on little charm cards for Mercedes to look at as she grows, little did we know we would need them for the mother to know how much she was blessed too!!

We played one last game before the guests journeyed home from my castle--a baby name game, match the name of the animal to the name of it’s youngster! Then I stuffed their pockets with apple butter before sending them on their way!

It was a satire, this party for 4 guests, but thankfully they all appreciated the humor, enjoyed the company nonetheless, and hey! Everyone left with at least one prize if not more!

BUUUUT!!! Speaking of beautiful babes, I know some of you out there have your own, or know someone with little lovelies...AND there is ONE. MORE. WEEK. For the GIVEAWAY!! A cute Babies and Toddlers Wholesome food recipe book! If you want to be entered for a chance to win, please leave a comment below, or private message me. Just a tip on how to stay frugal, or a question on an area you’re struggling with, even just some encouragement! Good Luck!

An Autumn Treat! Apple Butter!

Craving that sultry, apple cinnamon that’s so decidedly autumn? Snuggling up with a cozy-warm cup of coffee (or tea) on a crisp fall day needs a good pairing, and what’s better than a rich Apple Butter?! I don’t know of anything to rival the mood!

For starters, you need to get some canning jars! I was interested in small ones for a baby shower, as this apple butter makes a great party favor! However, I have found that the cheapest jars are actually from Bed Bath and Beyond, where you can use your $5 off coupon, or your 20% off coupon...either way, you want those jars to come down to 80 cents a piece! (For a 1 Quart Jar!) If you find a better deal, let me know! I’m always scouting for better deals on jars. Another good way to collect jars is to look at thrift stores. I tend to have luck at the Value Villages in my neck of the woods, sometimes scoring jars for less than 40 cents a piece!

Next step is to scavenge for apples! If you’ve got a tree, more power to ya, but if you aren’t blessed with one, check out your local Asian Mart! I’m serious! H-Mart, in Lynnwood, sometimes sells a 5lb bag of dying apples for a buck! And if you’re going to boil it all down anyway, that’s a steal! For this batch I was more pressed for time, and thus only acquired a 50 cents a pound deal, but hey, that’s still half price!

It’s recommended that you use Gravenstein or Granny Smith, but I had no problem with an unlabeled apple, that looked closer to a Jonagold.

Another recommendation is to use a SIEVE! It adds a bit of work, but a blender is not going to cut it (haha, so punny) for this one...a wire mesh strainer and spatula would acheive the same buttery results. Blending and food processing will only yeild apple sauce.

Autumn Apple Butter:
Cook Time: 4 ½ hours
Prep Time: 20-40 minutes

Yeild: 144 ounces (give or take...about 9 pint jars)

Ingredients:

10 lbs apples!

3 cups Apple Cider Vinegar (Regular is okay, will dilute flavor)

5 cups water

12 cups sugar (dependant on how your apples cook down)

2 Tablespoons Cinnamon

1 Tablespoon Cloves

1-2 Teaspoons Nutmeg

⅔ Cup Lemon Juice (preservative agent)

Molasses (Optional)

Now let’s get started! First, you want to de-stem all of your apples, we will be saving cores and skins, but the stems will block up your sieve.

Quarter your washed and stemless apples. Leave cores, seeds, and skins on. This adds to the delicious apple flavor of your butter, plus all of your nutrients are stored in the skins! Most of the skins will dissolve in the process, and the rest will be sifted out through the sieve.

In an extra large pot, boil the apples, vinegar and water for about 20 minutes. After they are done boiling, push the softened apples through your sieve into a bowl (or three if you’re making a large batch for the season as I do). 

Discard any remaining pulp, seeds, skin that won’t push through...be quick to throw it into your composter as it will rapidly attract fruit flies!

Return your “puree” to the pot, measuring as you go. Add 1 cup of sugar for every 2 cups of apple puree. Add the rest of your spices and a dollop of molasses for depth of flavor (about a tablespoon will do!) Now, bring the whole lot to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and stir occasionally for 4 hours. 

The best gauge for when to stir is when you see the sugar crystallizing on top of the bubbles. Also be sure to scrape the pot as you stir, you want to get all that sugar incorporated so it doesn’t burn.

My last tip is to put a wire screen over the top of your pot, because when the bubbles pop, they spatter apple butter everywhere, and if you or your children get spit at, the sugar makes this hardly-boiling mixture REALLY HOT!

Prepare a pot of boiling water, large and deep enough to cover your jars, remember your water level will rise as you put jars in…

Now just ladle the yummy goodness into your jars (a funnel is a very useful tool right about now)...your butter should be fairly thick, as in it does not spread much when tested on a cold plate. Place your jars in the boiling water, and allow to process for 4 minutes. The natural pectin in the apples will activate and set your butter. Remove from water and allow to cool at room temperature.

THERE YOU HAVE IT!!! A WONDERFUL AUTUMN TREAT!! (And a cute fall party favor, for a good size crowd for less than 30 dollars!)

Homemade Fungicide

After all of the rain we had last week, and then the muggy humidity that makes your hair go limp the moment you step foot out the door, it is no wonder all of my garden turned into a powdery-white, snowbank of mildew! Even after the sun comes out to dry out the roots, that sucker’s gonna stay put on your plants, especially your cucurbits!!! So I’ve got your homemade remedy, that’s tested and personally approved!

Baking Soda Fungicide

• 2 Tablespoons Baking Soda
• 2 Teaspoons Dish Soap
• 1 Gallon of Water

I used an old laundry detergent container (I saved them for my own laundry detergent, which I will divulge another time) for easy pouring. Fill up a dollar-store spray bottle, and spritz your plants’ leaves, stems and all until it looks like you’ve effectively “washed” away the mildew...although, hold back your cheers, the mildew will be back within a couple hours. Spray every day until the infection is gone! After that, spray weekly to keep mildew from creeping back into your garden this fall!

And hey! Don’t feel bad for a rotting garden--even the pumpkins at the Puyallup Fair had the white stuff all over them this year! And they’re supposedly expert gardeners!!

Autumn Wreath

JUST A REMINDER BEFORE I BEGIN:
COMMENT OR PRIVATE MESSAGE ME FOR A CHANCE TO WIN THE LATEST GIVEAWAY!!! ~A BABY AND TODDLER FOOD BOOK!

Fall is not official for another 2 weeks, but the weather and the children going back to school sure sets the tone! If you’re like me, after a long and lovely summer you are ready for that cool breeze to kick up and the leaves to turn colors, and beginning September 1st you've already scouted your farms and pumpkin patches to visit!

At the end of the season, when everything goes on clearance, every year I allow myself one more piece of Autumn decor! This year my new addition is scarecrows that were 75% off! In the meantime though, if you want more to keep your hands busy than making cider, make your own Autumn Wreath!

2 years ago I bought this simple twisted twig wreath in Target’s dollar section for $2, and I have seen it reappear every year since. On its own, it is very cute and simple, with little curly cues that remind me of pumpkin stems, but I wanted something that was more reminiscent of the large, full, bushy, fall wreaths you see at Michael’s. So here’s the fun part...every year now, my daughters and I collect a bunch of things to decorate our Autumn Wreath! My backyard rivals a forest, so we are able to hunt around a bit and uncover many treasures to put on our wreath, but if you feel your backyard quest will turn up leafless, head to a nearby park and make a field trip out of it. Parks can be wonderful, children who are not interested in searching for natural treasures to put on a wreath can play, and sometimes you can get things like acorns or maple leaves that really set the mood… This is last year's wreath!

  
 

After your field trip is done and you've got a nice collection going, it’s time to head home for the art part! It’s better to have too much than too little, because you can always toss extra clippings back outside. Also, when gathering leaves, try to steer clear of brown ones, nice yellows, reds, and even ones that are still green are easier to manipulate into the wreath, and after hanging for awhile, they will all turn brown anyway! Don’t worry if it’s wet outside, that will just make your leaves more malleable, which is nice for positioning on your wreath.

Now that you have your supplies, it is time to place your trinkets. For a wheat-like fan across the top, start on the left side of your wreath and string in your stems. If it doesn't fit or doesn't work after plenty of jarring and jiggling, try a new spot close to the same place. Starting from left to right will ensure that all of your stems get hidden by the tufts on the following “wheat” stalks. Do the same when arranging leaves. Start at the farthest position you want your fauna to appear, then work around, covering up your stems as you go. I like to add a little filler with varying grasses so my wreath looks full. I also think a couple of pine-cones are a festive look, plus they lend a little versatility for a winter wreath when we will go back outside to collect holly and pine swags. The first year I added pine-cones, I jammed them onto the wreath, hooking the spikes of the cone around the twigs of the wreath, which worked well for about half the season until one broke and I couldn't jam anymore on successfully after that. Solution: hot glue. Anything you don’t mind keeping year after year can be glued into place!

And voila! ~ A lovely Autumn Wreath that was a field trip and an art project all in one, and only cost $2 for seasons of enjoyment!

FREE PAINT! And a Freebie!

Don’t you just LOVE freebies?! So do I! I also love projects, do-it-yourself, and new paint! Everything feels fresher and more home-y with a fresh coat of paint, especially if all of your walls are beige…

Normally I wait until Labor Day (or Memorial Day for Springtime Painting Projects) for Sherwin Williams’ 40% off sale! That’s when all of their paint and stains are available for 40% off, which makes their lovely selection of high quality paint cheaper than Home Depot. I personally can’t stand Home Depot’s paint, as the water to pigment ratio borderlines soup instead of latex, guaranteed to splatter and require at least two coats to cover. These affections are probably the result of having a dad who was a manager at Sherwin Williams, but I have tested his convictions and I feel they are well-founded. But I digress, this year there was no paint sale! Where was I going to get my refreshing hand-picked shades for my new playroom in the works? I can’t just leave the project unfinished, that would be a waste of effort culminated over the summer! So there is one more idea…

OOPS! paint! They sell it at Home Depot for $7 a gallon, and Lowes for $5 a gallon! Despite requiring two coats to cover, that is massively cheaper than buying even the lowest quality paint on sale at Sherwin Williams! And let’s face it, none of us really NEEDS to pick the exact shade of our color, just a general selection will suffice. The only time you ever NEED an exact match is when you are painting an entire house, or matching a color that’s already inside. Or if you NEED "Ceiling White," which I recommend buying on Amazon, because even if you can hit the 40% off sale, it's still more for a standardized product, and Home Depot runs about $38 for a gallon:

But seriously, if you are coming to a project fresh, a dark red is a dark red, a light green is a light green, no one cares if you have Sunset Yellow or Sunrise Yellow!

So here’s where a bit of imagination is required: we found a lovely light green, but no other viable color options. The OOPS! paint selection refreshes daily, so it is worth it to go home and paint with the single color and come back the next day for more variety. With this almost electric green, we had the opportunity to go with a pastel theme for our playroom, or a natural theme, with earth tones and such. The paint selection would decide our fate. We had snagged this awesome green from Home Depot (watch out for how much is in the container, because they sell as is, so if it’s in a gallon bucket they charge $7 regardless of how much is left in it, which is not true of Lowes, and Lowes will actually mark how much is left in the can if some did perchance to spill), the next logical step was to check out Lowes’ stock of mismatched paint!

Lo and behold the fate of our new room went the natural route! There was a sweet pebble grey, and a fetched deep forest green! For $5 each! Now, here’s the kicker: Lowes is currently offering a $5 rebate on all of their gallons of 4000 Series paint (their Paint+Primer goes on a little thicker, and is nice for walls that already have a color on them that you are trying to cover, but a rebate is a rebate, yo!), and our little green beaut was exactly that variety...4000 Series, but discounted down to $5 because it  was a mis-mix. That means, when we got to the checkout with our two gallons of paint, we paid $5 for the grey, $5 for the green, and got a receipt for a $5 rebate that we mail in! That’s FREE PAINT! That is a score!!!

We continued our search yesterday for a blue to go along with our set, by now we had been into Lowes for a few days in a row. The nice gentleman at the counter noticed this, and checked every bucket he had behind the counter, and even marked out some paint that was left behind that day for us. You never know when your efforts will be rewarded with your perfect color! For us, that perfect color's name is "Autumn Sky," the blue to round out our set. When all was said and done we painted a 200 square foot playroom/classroom for $17. That was 4 gallons of paint, all different colors, making our home unique and wonderful! I don’t advise buying every color they have, as there was a light blue that bordered on white that we didn't take, despite our quest for blue. Not every color is a winner, but sometimes you have to open your mind to color possibilities, and sometimes you have to get a general color in mind and aim for that, being prejudiced towards extreme off-shoots of that color you’re aiming for, but not too picky for ballpark matches! Even if you're just looking for a nice Tan color to refresh your neutral walls, sometimes they will have two or three gallons of the same mis-match. You don't always have to go for accent walls like we are, although you can get some pretty fun colors that way! They also have deck stains, concrete stains, exterior paint, and more!

With this new tip in hand, get out there and go scrounge for 4000 Series mis-mixes from Lowes, and refresh your home for fall for free!

Speaking of Freebies, I have a Freebie for you! Since I've been keeping you up to speed with recipes and money savers for your food budget, I realized all you have is food for adults! My girls eat like adults now, but they didn't always, and you should be prepared for that too! Do not buy that canned baby crap, make it yourself! It's much healthier for your little one! To help you out, the Giveaway on this Wonderful Wednesday is the book: "Wholesome Meals For Babies and Toddlers, Healthy Food Your Kids Will Love To Eat" which has food for your cutie separated out by the different stages of development! This book was given to me when I was a new mom, now I am passing it on! It has recipes from 6 months old to 4 years old! It is not a vegan book, but there are plenty of vegan recipes, especially in the baby food section.

To win, please leave a comment or private message me with a money saving tip! Or a question on a particular area you are struggling to save money in!