Misc.

I was lucky enough to have 3 different baby showers to help welcome our first little bundle of joy into this world – ALL 3 of them were squeezed into 4 days! Whew!

And even though I’ve been to a ton of different baby showers over the past few years, I learned that it’s totally different when the shower is for you!

Here are a few of my baby shower observations:

1. They are WAY more work than what you think!

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I’ve been to a bunch of baby showers but never hosted one myself… and I’m so thankful for my sister, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, and friends who hosted my 3 different showers!

2. They don’t have to be expensive.

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We used these fun pink paint chips {found at any local hardware store} for the invitations. They turned out so great!! We also used Facebook and email to send out reminders.

One shower had no decorations {which was totally fine with me} and the other two “shared” some free decorations that were also made out of the paint chips!

3. Keep the food to a minimum.

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Dave’s mom did make a full meal for our family shower, but my other two showers were pretty minimalistic when it came to food. My sister and sister-in-law made egg dishes, muffins, and fruit salad for one shower, and the 3rd shower simply had my favorite candy corn mix, caramel apples, and apple cider.

4. Over invite because people don’t show up.

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At first I was worried about inviting too many people because I didn’t know if we’d have room in our living room for everyone. However, I’m SO glad I over invited, because a bunch of people couldn’t come, and a bunch more just didn’t show up.

The final head-count for one of my showers was only HALF the people who were originally invited! If we would have had any fewer people, the games might not have worked very well.

5. Co-ed baby showers can be fun too.

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Maybe I should let Dave speak on this point, but in my opinion, our co-ed shower was a blast!

It was such a different atmosphere than the all-female baby shower and the family baby shower; we both had a REALLY great time!

I had to laugh at this picture of Dave because it makes him look like he’s totally “checked out” but I promise, he was laughing and have a great time with the rest of us!

6. Handmade gifts are extra special.

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Normally, I like to stick to the gift registry whenever I go a baby shower… but sometimes I get creative and make something like hooded towels, car-seat covers, burp cloths, blankets, etc. and I think they are always well-recieved.

Apparently I have super talented friends and relatives because I got some great hand-made gifts!

{from L to R: a knitted unicorn, baby hats, a knitted lady bug, and a “wearable burp cloth”}

{from L to R: blankets, small diaper bag, burp cloths, teddy bear hat}

7. Gift cards are REALLY great gifts.

I’ve mentioned this several times before — but I used to feel bad about giving people gifts cards. I thought it was a “lazy” way out — but I’ve recently started giving more and more gifts cards {I try to package them creatively} mainly because I realize how much I personally love getting gift cards.

Obviously, gifts off the registry are equally fantastic — but gift cards really are so practical and you know the recipient will be able to find something they love.

8. It’s fun to be the center of attention!

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I’m a huge ‘gifts’ person… it’s actually my #1 “Love Language”, so it’s REALLY fun for me to get gifts. I love love wrapping gifts, I love giving gifts, I love getting gifts, I love wondering what the gift might be, and I LOVE opening gifts. {Yes, I know, I’m 26 but I just can’t help it!}

So since adults usually don’t have many opportunities to open mass amounts of gifts, my baby showers were just the perfect opportunity for me to be the center of attention and get my gift ‘fix’ in… I should definitely be good until Christmas now

9. Little girl things are SOOOO cute!

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Seriously, I wish I had the time and energy to take a picture of every single gift I got… because they are ALL so cute.

And my frugal nature is already being tested when I walk through the aisle at Target and the mall because everything is simply adorable and it all seems so inexpensive. However, I have to remember that she’ll only wear it for a couple of months {at the most} and then it won’t fit any more.

So far, I’ve resisted every urge to buy cute girl things... but I’m not sure how much longer I can hold out!

Now that we officially have everything we could possibly need, a whole bunch of things we probably don’t need, and so many other adorably cute handmade items – I think we are FINALLY ready for our baby to arrive. 

Yes, that means the nursery is finished… and I’ll be posting lots of pictures later this week!

Thanks so much to everyone involved in planning my showers as well as everyone who came and “showered us with gifts.”

We feel so blessed! 

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Welcome to my Huge Birthday Giveaway Celebration!!

Instead of receiving gifts this year, I’ve decided to give YOU an opportunity to win a bunch of awesome products I currently use and love.  I’ve partnered with 26 amazing companies to offer 26 different giveaways for my 26th birthday. There will be multiple giveaways every day from June 13-18 — so make sure you come back!

You will be able to find all 26 Birthday Week Giveaways here — just keep scrolling down to view them all.

Giveaway #5: Gussy Sews $70 Shop Credit

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If you’ve been hanging around the internet for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard of Gussy — the girl who sews all kinds of gorgeous ruffles. I met Maggie Whitley {a.k.a. Gussy} via Twitter over a year ago, but I got to hang out with her in person this past Christmas when she visited her family for the holidays.

She is super cute… just like all the adorable, ruffly bags she sells over at her online shop.

Seriously, I want one of everything!

If you share my obsession with her gorgeous bags, then you’ll be super excited to know that Gussy is offering a $70 shop credit to one lucky reader!!!

Enter to Win!

Simply answer the question below by leaving a comment on this post. You can even gain bonus entries for doing each additional item listed below (just make sure that you leave a comment for each one).

REQUIRED ENTRY:

• Visit Gussy’s Shop and tell me — What would be your first purchase?

BONUS ENTRIES:

• Subscribe to Simple Organized Living via email or RSS

• Follow Simple Organized Living on Facebook or Twitter

• Follow Gussy Sews on Facebook

Just a reminder that any comments left on Facebook or Twitter will not count for my birthday giveaways, and you must provide a valid email address to be considered.

All giveaways during my birthday giveaway week will close on Monday, June 20, 2011 at 10:00 EST. The winners will be selected at random and announced via a full blog post on Tuesday, June 21. I will also notify all winners via email.

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Thanks to all of you who entered to win The Time Keeper daily planner from Starla over at Well Kept Life.

This was such a fun giveaway — not only because I had a great time reading all the different ways you keep track of your daily responsibilities, but also because I know the winner will be truly blessed by this wonderful planner.

I can’t wait for January so I can start using mine!

With that said; the winner is:

Congrats Leslie!!! Please contact me with your information and I’ll get The Time Keeper out to you ASAP!!

Better yet, purchase The Time Keeper. It’s only $11.75 + $3.00 shipping — and it’s worth every penny.

And for those of you who STILL aren’t convinced…let me elaborate on a few way I benefit from using a planner.

1. I don’t forget things {honestly, I write everything down and rarely forget anything}
2. I know what I have to do, when I have to do it, and where — no more guessing games
3. I have all my information is in ONE spot — this is a shout-out to all you Post-It lovers!!
4. I have all my information WITH ME all the time — this is the one downfall of wall calendars
5. I get to viciously cross off all my completed tasks {seriously, this should be #1}
6. I have a place for all my usernames, passwords, and other random info I could otherwise forget
7. I can visually see a full day, week, and even a month at a time — great for planning ahead!

Do you really need me to keep going or have I convinced you yet?

Remember, if you are interested in purchasing The Time Keeper for yourself or as a Christmas gift, make sure you order it no later than December 10…they are going quickly!!

And Christmas is only 39 days away…

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Last weekend, my husband and I celebrated his parents 30th wedding anniversary.  It happened to be the same day as our nephew’s {and their grandson’s} baptism so we didn’t have anything huge planned; just an afternoon together as a family.

Dave and I wanted to come up with a creative and fun gift {since they really don’t need anything} and after a bunch of great ideas from my Facebook and Twitter followers, we came up with…

30 Pearls of Wisdom:

Since pearls are the traditional gift for a 30-year anniversary we decided to improvised a bit.

Instead of an real pearl necklace, we created a necklace with 30 pearls of wisdom and 30 fake pearls. The pearls of wisdom were a compilation of things we’ve learned from them over the years. Some were serious but most were funny, inside-jokes.

Want to make one of your own?

• Come up with a bunch of quotes, saying, memories, inside jokes, etc.
• Find fake pears from your favorite craft store
• Cut out 30 black tags (2.25″ x 4″) and 30 white tags (2″ x 3.5″)
• Glue or tape one white tag on top of each black tag
• Punch a  hole {this is a good job for the hubby!}
• Write one message per tag
• Thread the messages and pearls onto a “necklace” — a.k.a. kitchen twine!

The trickiest part of the whole project was threading the fake pearls onto the kitchen twine.

Some of the holes weren’t completely open so Dave decided to pound a nail through the holes {to apparently stretch the pearls!} After a few broken pearls we decided to simply use a thinner twine instead!! Men!

We assembled the “necklace” by alternating pearls and tags…pretty self-explanatory.

His parents loved it — as much as you can love a hideous fake-pearl necklace that looks more a really ugly Hawaiian lei!

And we had SO much fun remembering the different funny moments and childhood events.

Yup, they are GREAT parents…which is why we also gave them a certificate for a professional family picture!

Any West Michigan photographers out there? We’re still looking for one!

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