Mother's Day Gift Guide

 Ok friends. Who needs some last minute ideas on Mother's Day gifts? Either for your own mom or to send to your kids/husbands? I've got you covered! I'm going to give you five things moms really want for Mother's Day.

1. SOMETHING TO PLANT

 Flowers, trees, etc. Hanging flower baskets are always a great idea this time of year. They make any space look instantly more beautiful. Or maybe there's a special tree or bush she's been talking about planting. Japanese Maple, Cherry blossom, Lilac bush, Azaleas...if you're not sure, plan a little trip to the local nursery and let her pick something out...or hack her Pinterest account and see what she's been saving. I'm telling you, you CANNOT go wrong with some sort of flower gift.

2. A DAY AT THE SPA Or part of a day...moms work harder than most people realize. We also tend to put ourselves last. Which is why it's so nice to receive a gift that recognizes our desire to be taken care of occasionally. 

Maybe right now your mom isn't comfortable going to a spa. Or maybe you live long distance. No problem! Hop on Amazon and snag her this massager! I actually ordered this for my husband for Christmas and I use it just as much as, if not more, than he does. 

3. YOUNG LIVING PREMIUM STARTER KIT

Essential Oils are all the rage right now. I personally only use Young Living due to them being the best quality I've found because of their Seed to Seal standard. This kit makes you a Young Living member which means you get 24% off all their products. No monthly fee!! We use their plant based cleaning supplies, personal care products, supplements, and obviously the oils. You don't have to sell (you can if you want but it doesn't affect your membership if you don't). In fact I don't really do the business side, we just use the products. but you're still welcome to sign up through me if you don't know anyone else. I have an amazing team I'm part of that will help you learn all about the products.

• Desert Mist™ Diffuser
• Premium essential oils collection:
• Frankincense, 5 ml Lavender, 5 ml
• Lemon Vitality™, 5 ml
• Peppermint Vitality™, 5 ml
• Citrus Fresh™ Vitality, 5 ml
• DiGize™ Vitality™, 5 ml
• PanAway®, 5 ml
• Peace & Calming®, 5 ml
• Raven™, 5 ml
• Stress Away™, 5 ml
• Thieves® Vitality™, 5 ml
• Valor®, 5 ml
• AromaGlide™ Roller Fitments, 2 ct.
• NingXia Red® 2 oz. samples, 2 ct.
• Thieves® Spray, 1 oz.
• Thieves® Waterless Hand Sanitizer, 1 oz.
• Essential oil display tray
• Essential Oils at a Glance brochure
• Essential Edge News
• Essential Oils magazine
• Product Guide

4. YOUR TIME

Seriously! Make dinner or help in the garden or around the house without complaining. Smaller kids spend time making a special craft. Whatever giving your time looks like in your life and family, do it, she's appreciate it!

5. TIME TO HERSELF

Dads, grab the kids and head to grandma's for a while. Or kick mom out the door for some time outside the house by herself. Ask her which she would prefer!! Emphasis on asking. Sometimes we want time alone to read or watch a show uninterrupted and sometimes we need to go explore the stores alone. 

BONUS

All moms really want is to feel seen. Many of the day to day things we do aren't noticeable and that's ok. We do them out of love not need for recognition. But Mother's Day is a great time to remind the moms in your life that you see them and are thankful for them.  

-buy her those cute pajamas she's been talking about

-plan a get together with her friends she keeps saying she misses

-book a photographer for updated family photos she keeps saying you need

-take her to get a pedicure - sandal season is upon us

-write her a sweet note or handmade card

-help her with a project she keeps saying she wants to do

Don't overthink it. it doesn't have to be hard or expensive. Just from the heart. ❤

Christmas 2020

    

Friends, I had soooo much fun decorating for Christmas this year. We started at the beginning of November, took our time and added things all throughout the month. 

Last year, I had to have my mother in law come over and show me how to put the ribbon on my tree because she's a pro. This year I was able to do it all by myself. Pretty proud moment lol. 

The kids are just as obsessed with a glowing tree as I am.

Our tree went through quite a transformation. Every time I thought I was done, 

my daughter wanted to add more.

Our fireplace does not have a mantle. So this year we got some brick clips and between those and zip ties, I was able to make it look like we had one. Probably my favorite "trick" so far. I zip tied three strands of $5 Target garland together to make it nice and full on a budget. Then just added in things I already had. The wool ball garland is from Crate and Kids a few years ago -

(normally it hangs in my daughters room but I borrowed it) with her permission.😉

I made this bell garland about 4 years ago using a pack of bells from Hobby Lobby and thick yarn. We dried orange slices using Lindsey from The White Buffalo Styling Co.'s instructions. She has a highlight on her Instagram profile. @thewhitebuffalostylingco

We have an outlet behind the tv so I was able to add a strand of lights for some extra sparkle.

Entryway...

Dining room.

Kitchen

We added a tree to our master bedroom. I love hanging out at night all cozy in bed 

with the tree lights glowing.

Those handprint ornaments are each from my kids first Christmas ❤

Kids rooms. As I've said before, I LOVE adding holiday décor to my kids bedrooms. They each get their own tree. This year we kept the decorations on their trees simple.

The chunky pom pom garland is from World Market (years ago) and the little pillow ornaments were gifts over the years from my husbands grandmother.

Felt ball garland on my daughters tree is from World Market. and the candle ornaments we made using @thehomemakingmomma 's instructions. She has the how-to on her blog.

Right before Christmas is actually SNOWED! It was pretty magical.

Thanks for hanging out for the Christmas recap!!

♥♥♥

Fall 2020

Fall is my favorite!! The weather, the colors, the smells, college football, sweatshirts, warm blankets, soup...I could go on and on. Being that my Instagram page @adventuresofhomemaking is new, I wanted to use this space here to back track and share some of my favorite shots from this past Fall. So grab a drink and a blanket and let's all time travel back to the best time of year.

We kicked off Fall with our favorite treat - Mini Pumpkin Muffins.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Mix a box of Spice Cake Mix and a can of pumpkin puree

Spray pan

Pour mix

Cook for 10 minutes

Add cinnamon whipped cream cheese on top for extra yumminess

 

Next up was a trip to Rural King for pumpkins. We had planned to go to a pumpkin patch later on but we wanted some for the porch to kick off our decorating. 

We never actually made it to a pumpkin patch...with my husbands crazy work schedule and then hunting season, time just got away from us.

These kids are the best of friends. We are so lucky!

Off to put their pumpkins wherever they want.

I snagged the most gorgeous mums from a local farm. Nothing like a Fall morning with a pumpkin spice coffee.

My decorating sidekick. Gosh guys, we have so much fun decorating together!

Leaf watch. I am obsessed with watching our property change with the seasons.

We gave our front porch a super quick makeover. It's tucked back in so it's not easily seen. I wanted to change that a bit so we ripped out some bushes and I gave the door a fresh coat of paint. I'll share more in the Spring once we switch out the light fixtures.

Once we got the outside spruced up, we turned our sights to the inside. 

I love adding seasonal touches to my kids rooms. I let them go through the décor and pick out some things they like. It's so fun to see how excited they get.

All year she wanted to be a witch for Halloween. But if you scroll to the bottom, you'll see that in typical 3 year old fashion, she changed her mind.

The afternoon light in our Livingroom is so dreamy. The kids made this little reading corner with their basket of Fall/Halloween books and bean bag.

For some reason I didn't take a lot of photos of the decor inside the house. But my daughter was obsessed with bats so we put them all over. We found them on Amazon.

And then eventually, the magic happened outside...

On this night, we went out for pizza and came home and took a little ride around to the neighbors to visit their horses. Country life is 100% for us!

Nothing beats Fall sunsets in the country.

We had our first outdoor family movie night. We lasted about 30 minutes before we were all freezing.

View from our Livingroom window.

Costume try-on.

My daughter wore this same pumpkin costume when she was his age. So it sounded fun to have him wear it too.

Patio dreams come true with these string lights.

Shoutout to my girl who is just like me when it comes to holiday excitement and making things special.

Trick or Treating in our cute little town.

Literally as I'm getting everyone dressed, Jolene decides she wants to be a princess. Thankfully we are well equipped with princess gear...

Who doesn't love some cute Halloween pj's.

We finally carved our pumpkins the morning after Halloween. Better late than never.

Lastly, we celebrated my birthday. My husband brought home flowers after work and we spent the day hanging out at home, playing outside, then dinner out...just the 4 of us. It was perfect.

Thanks for hanging out!!

♥️ C