Wardrobe Wednesday- New Year's Eve at the Cabin

Happy New Year's Eve!  We are heading to my parent's cabin to celebrate with fun in the snow!  This outfit is super warm and easy to move in (for cross country skiing).  I wish you all a pleasant and safe evening!  See you in 2015!

Back to Normal- Sort of...

After the rush of Christmas, I didn't get much done in the way of minimizing projects.  I thought that I would tell you about Christmas in regards to our minimalism.

Before Christmas, we each asked our families to not do adult gifts (or at least to not include us in them!).  This was fairly well-received.  We also asked that anyone buying for Miss. E keep the gifts minimal and mostly practical.

I was petrified that we would end up with a mountain of toys and things that Miss. E truly doesn't need.  I also did not want Hubby and I to end up with a bunch of things that we didn't need.

Everyone was very respectful of our minimalism requests.  Miss. E received outfits (so great!), socks, and books (always welcome!).  She received a handful of toys, but nothing outrageous.  It was so nice that our families respected our wishes and it took away a lot of stress for us.  We will definitely do the minimalist Christmas again!

If you are feeling like your holiday season is becoming overwhelmed with "things", you may want to consider this approach.  Even just cutting back can feel freeing.  It worked well for our families.  We got to focus on family and enjoying our time with one another.  It was wonderful!  And truth be told, Miss E. just wanted time with her family, to play with the wrapping paper (and try to eat it!) and to play with the large plastic ladle that someone handed her.  I hope that we can raise her to know meaningful holidays.  Holidays that focus on family and laughter, not on stuff.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday.

Friday!

Hi Everyone!

I usually link up with Lauren Elizabeth's blog, but I see she hasn't posted today.  So, I have decided to say the five things that I was most grateful for over this holiday season!

1.)  A perfect Christmas morning with Hubby and Miss. E.  It was a beautiful way to start the day.  We had breakfast and opened gifts.  Miss. E was quite enamored with her new toy!

2.) Safe travels.  My in-laws made it to our house safe and sound.  The weather was great for traveling!

3.)  All of the grandparents.   Elizabeth is so very lucky to have two sets of grandparents who love her very much!  It was wonderful to watch them spend time with her, cuddling, playing and even napping!

4.)  The uncles (and aunt!).  Our brothers and my brother's girlfriend are fantastic with Miss. E and they all make her so happy.  They are always willing to play and make faces!

5.)  Peace.  I felt such a deep peace this holiday season.  I am so blessed and I am loving every moment.  I thank God every day for blessing me with Miss. E.  I am so thankful to be a mother.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Wardrobe Wednesday- Christmas Eve Edition

Merry Christmas (Eve)!  I have two outfits for you today.  One is a more casual outfit that I wore shopping last weekend.  I think it would go well with casual Christmas events, as well.  Especially if your family isn't the type to dress up!  My second outfit is a bit dressier.  I love to wear dresses and skirts, so Christmas is that perfect excuse!

Outfit #1:

Remember how I said I threw my black faux leather jacket back into the rotation?  Well, here it is!  It adds shape to outfits and in this unusually warm weather, it is all the jacket I need!  This outfit is super easy to wear (comfortable!), but still looks put together!  I love the red!  So festive at this time of year!

Outfit #2:  (Please excuse the terrible selfies.  Hubby had to work and couldn't take pictures for me!)

I love this outfit.  In the second picture I was trying to show you how cute this skirt is!  Pleats!  I love it!  It is flowy and fun to wear.  It also seems to do a good job masking the leftover baby belly that I am still working on.  The sleeveless top is nice because it always seems to get so hot when we have a ton of people over!  The black shooties blend nicely and polish of the outfit.

Do you have an outfit to share?  Perhaps your holiday outfit?  Tweet me @peacefulsimple with your #wardrobewednesday outfit!

Merry Christmas!  Happy Holidays!  I wish you all a wonderful Christmas.  May it be filled with love, laughter and peace.  Please be safe out there!  We will see you on Friday!

Handmade Christmas Gifts

I made my handmade gifts this weekend (talk about last minute!).  They were very simple and I am really happy with how they turned out.  Both Hubby's family and my family decided not to do gifts for the adults, this year.  BUT, I know that they are all planning to buy for our daughter.  I decided to make a simple, sentimental gift for the family that would be "from" Elizabeth.  I made each set of Grandparents a Christmas ornament and each Uncle a fridge magnet.

Christmas Ornaments:

You will need a clear plastic ornament, a photo, scrapbook paper, photo safe adhesive and an object that you want to enclose.

I used the scrapbook paper to make a "barrier" between the photo and the baby sock.  I cut the paper and photo to size and inserted it into the ornament.  I had to roll the paper and photo to insert and then I unrolled them once they were in the ornament.  On the other side, I put in one of Miss. E's socks from her newborn stage (I can't believe these were too big on her at first!).

This gift is extremely easy to customize.  You could include a picture of your honey and you at a concert and include the ticket stubs.  You could do a pet themed one for the pet lover in your life.  The possibilities are endless!

Here is my final result (front & back).  The total cost of this gift was about $2.30 each.

 I made magnets for the Uncles using 4" X 4" mini canvas panels.  I used the canvas panels, infant safe ink (be sure to buy ink that is specifically designed for use on infant skin) and magnetic adhesive dots.

I first painted Miss. E's foot with the ink and, with Hubby's help (help is important if you don't want ink absolutely everywhere!), stamped her foot on the canvas panels.

I washed her foot while the canvas panels were drying.  It didn't take long for them to dry!

I added her birth date and her name.  (I put her full name, but for privacy I only included her first in the photo.)

I stuck the magnets on the back and presto!  All done!  Super easy!  This craft cost about $3.48 for each panel.

I was pleased with how the gifts turned out.  I hope my recipients like them!

I will be back on Wednesday for a double edition of #wardrobewednesday to make up for last week's lack of planning!

High Five For Friday!

Oh, what a week it has been!  I have been suffering with severe nasal congestion and sinus pain.  I also threw my neck out of whack.  It has been an uncomfortable week, to say the least.  I am on the mend and feel much better today!  I am always thankful when these ailments pass quickly.  It truly makes me appreciate how good I usually feel!  Here is my High Five For Friday:

1.)  Feeling better! (see above.  Enough said.)

2.)  My daughter had a 6 month follow-up appointment with her cardiologist.  I was worried sick going into the appointment.  She had some issues with her heart when she was born.  People have a valve that is open in utero that is supposed to snap closed when they are born.  Miss. E's valve didn't close when she was born, nor was it closed when we left the NICU.  The doctors thought that it might be contributing to some of the problems she had after birth.  Miss. E's cardiologist informed us that everything now looks "perfectly normal".  It was music to my ears.  I am so happy that the valve closed and that we can carry on.

3.)  My parents kept our dog when we went to the cardiologist appointment (it was an overnight trip to the city).  They were so wonderful to take the dog when I couldn't find her any other accommodation for the night.  We appreciate them helping us out!

4.)  My husband was able to elicit fits of giggles out of our daughter.  He was making funny noises and faces at her.  She was laughing so hard!  That got me laughing pretty hard, as well.  Who can resist a child's laughter?  It was a beautiful moment!

5.)  Our Christmas cards are done and dusted.  Er.... Written and sent away!  Everyone got pretty much the same message because I was trying to get them done as quickly as possible.  I left them to the last minute this year, so here is hoping that they make it on time!

How was your week?  Link up at thelaurenelizabeth.com to join in!

Whew! What a Week!

I missed doing ALL of my posts this week!  I apologize if you came to read and were disappointed.  My daughter had follow-up appointments and I was sick (great combo, eh?).  I will do the regular Friday post and try to make up the other posts next week with my holiday crafts (2 more!) and 2 outfits for "Wardrobe Wednesday".

I apologize for the lack of posts.  I didn't plan in advance.  I feel a New Year's resolution coming on!