Willow House Wednesday: A Touch of Easter

We are sliding into April which means it's officially time to think about Easter!  The thing I want to stress about any type of holiday decorating is that you can use the items you already have and sparingly embellish them with seasonal objects.  There is no need to buy extra holiday-specific decor, unless you happen to find something adorable that you just love (like my bunnies!).


Remember when I showed you how I spruced up my mantel for Spring?

Well, here it is with a touch of Easter.  I kept all the same elements... I just added a few bunnies, some eggs, and a few chicks to seasonalize the decor I already had on the mantel.

I got all of my Easter items from Hobby Lobby.  They have eggs that look fake and eggs that look really real... choose the ones that look real!  In other words, leave the overly glittered and picture embossed eggs on the shelf and go for the more subtle ones.


For these two hurricanes on the right, I simply topped off the Reindeer moss/split peas that were already there with some speckled eggs.  The white eggs were a Pottery Barn inspiration from here.  I found the white eggs for less than $1 at Hobby Lobby and added my own scrapbook stickers for a similar look!  You could spell just about anything... mine spell Jesus :)

On left side, once again, I just added to the Reindeer moss that was already in the hurricane.  I found these little chicks at Hobby Lobby, but they had an ugly egg tied to the top of the chick with an ugly ribbon.  I just ripped the ugly off and re-glued the "feathers" back on the top to get two cute little chicks!  

Lastly, I added a little nest with the same eggs to the top of the greenery arrangement on the far left.

I think the result is subtle Easter decor that doesn't look too overdone!  What do you think?

On the dining room table, a few bunnies and another birds nest are all that I needed to add a touch of Easter to this table scape.  Candlesticks (such as the Amira blue one shown) are a great item to use for decorating with items other than candles... birds nests and moss balls are a few of my favorite things to put on top of a candlestick!

You've heard me sing the praises of good generic glass items many times over!  I love the classic look of glass... it never goes out of style and will go with absolutely anything!

Here is a little touch of Easter on my staircase ledge using some glass pieces that I literally use all.the.time!  Notice that I turned the hurricane upside down, filled it with eggs, and topped it with a boxwood ball?!

By the way, the medium glass candlesticks pictured here are on special this week for only $8.96!!!  You need to get a few of them if you don't already have them!  You can click the image below to shop online.  Be sure to check the outlet and the weekly deals in the outlet!

And last but not least, I added a few fun oversized Easter eggs (made with scrapbook paper, Modge Podge and Kraft eggs from Hobby Lobby) to my coffee table bowl.  

So those are a few ideas for adding just a touch of Easter decor to your home this month.  Remember, you don't need a lot... just a few touches!  


And if you want more inspiration and ideas, be sure to check out www.mystyleshare.com for TONS of pictures and videos and lots of great Easter inspiration!


Lastly, this little vignette is not necessarily Easter - just Spring!  But I thought I'd share it with you anyway!  Like usual, I've used split peas as a filler in the hurricane, a giant boxwood ball inside the dome, a burlap lining in the tall hurricane and some great real-looking branches.  I added a little sign and a few birds and birds nests to complete the Spring look!

Happy Decorating!

Friday Firsts

Guess what?!


Last Friday, this sweet baby girl celebrated her first birthday!  

We spent a fun afternoon at a Wildlife Park with friends.

Molly showed off her new one year old ability...

Seeing her take these first steps makes me realize how much has changed in the span of one short year.  And after many, many months of unhappiness, she has finally become a happy one year old little girl! 

We will be officially celebrating her first birthday this weekend.  At which time I will share more of my reflections on her first year of life.


On Friday night, we were honored to be asked to be a part of another first.

After meeting for over two years in a warehouse, our church has finally completed construction on our new building.  

The very first Mass at Saint Catherine of Siena was celebrated on Friday night and the new building was blessed by the Bishop.

Our family was asked to carry the offertory gifts at Mass.  It was quite an honor to know that we were the very first family ever to carry the gifts of bread and wine down that aisle.

The kids did great... they made it the whole way without tripping or spilling anything!

{noah and emily with bishop jackels}

It has been quite a unique and special experience to be a part of building a brand new church.  

And so it was that Friday, March 25, 2011, on the birthday of St. Catherine of Siena and Molly Clare Holtzman, we celebrated the birth of our new church building... many firsts on one special day.

Baby Girls, Blogs, Baskets, Bows & Bonds

This picture was taken 1 week ago today.  I was privileged to spend four fun-filled days in Charleston, SC with two new friends... mothers who formed a long distance bond through our blogs, our baby girls, a love for bows and a ministry of baskets.

Over two years ago, I read my first blog.  It was this one.   A friend from Wichita had landed herself in Michigan to give birth to her baby boy who was diagnosed in utero with a congenital heart defect.  While there, staying at the Ronald McDonald house, she met the mother of Lindsay, another baby born with a congenital heart defect.  Lindsay, though, was in a battle for her life... she needed a heart transplant (at the tender age of 9 months) in order to survive.  One afternoon, as my friend shared prayer requests for her own little boy, by sharing the link to Lindsay's blog, she asked us to include Lindsay and her family in our prayers.

And so it happened.  With one curious click, I stumbled across a story that tugged at my heart and challenged me to change the perspective from which I was living my own life and carrying out my own vocation of motherhood.

I don't know why I became so invested in this little girl and her struggle to survive other than my mother's heart felt a deep empathy for this mother and her little girl.  Somehow, through the story and struggle Suzie shared on the blog, I was able to acknowledge and appreciate the "little things" in my life in a new way.  At the time, I was enduring what seemed to be a particularly challenging stage of motherhood.  But my so-called struggles seemed trite and meaningless in comparison to the very real struggles and challenges faced by another mother.  And this realization allowed me to offer my own struggles as sacrifices as I prayed that this mother would be able to watch her own daughter grow up into a mischievous toddler much like my own daughter who had become the source of my frustrations.

While I prayed for Lindsay, I began trying to find ways to lift Suzie's spirit.  If I felt like I sometimes needed "reinforcement" as I carried out my day to day tasks of motherhood, how much more would this mother, who was faced with caring for two other small children while maintaining a job and living out of a hospital room, need something to lift her up too?!  I stumbled upon a small cross one day while Christmas shopping and with that small purchase, a long distance friendship began between two mothers who shared a bond through the pure love for our daughters.

*****

The second blog I ever read was this one.  Shortly after my friend delivered her baby boy in Michigan, she began posting daily updates regarding his progress as he prepared to have open heart surgery.  In one update, she casually mentioned that she had received an Annabelle Basket that included some sweet little gifts for her newborn.

And so it happened again.  With a second curious click, I discovered the story of another mother and daughter.  Like me, this mother had dreamed her whole life of having a baby girl.  Her dream came true when she gave birth to her beautiful daughter, Annabelle.  Annabelle was also born with a congenital heart defect and for reasons that may never make sense, she graced this Earth for only two short months.  She now lives, perfectly healed, in the loving arms of her Heavenly Father.

Once again, I felt connected to a mother with whom I seemed to have so much in common.  We shared a love for all things pink, smocked clothing, planning birthday parties, and adorning the heads of our baby girls with precious bows.  For as much as we seemed to have in common though, Rebecca was walking a painful path that was very different than the one I was walking as watched my dream-come-true baby girl grow into a toddler.  And once again, my mother's heart felt connected to Rebecca as I stood in awe of her steadfast faith and her trust in God's plan for her family.

A box filled with bows for the ministry she started in her daughter's memory marked the beginning of another long distance bond with another mother whose love for her daughter radiated.

*****

After nearly 2 1/2 years of peeking into each other's lives from behind a computer screen, we decided to meet for a "mom's weekend getaway"!  Over the course of four days, we shopped a lot, ate even more, laughed a lot, and cried often.  It was a unique blessing to be able to spend such a fun weekend with women who have taught me much about faith, trust, fear, motherhood, and miracles.  

I don't fully understand why it is that God placed us in each other's lives.  I only know that I have been blessed by these unexpected friendships.

Thank you, Suzie & Rebecca, for inviting me into your heart world and allowing me to share in the joys and sorrows that your baby girls have brought to your lives.  Through them, you have brought much joy to my life!

{scenes from charleston, courtesy of my new photographically talented friends!}

*****

Today marks the three year anniversary of the day that Annabelle left this Earth and went to spend eternity with Jesus.  And so today, I want to invite you to visit the Annabelle Basket ministry by clicking here.  Rebecca started this ministry to provide hope and comfort to the families whose newborn babies were born with heart defects and would spend the beginning of their lives undergoing open heart surgery and living within an ICU.  The bows, hats, cute socks, sweet blankets, and burp cloths are meant to lift the spirits of parents who are not able to experience the normal joys that should come with having a newborn baby.    

Through the Annabelle Baskets, Rebecca has used her own tragedy to bless others who are in a position of helplessness.  It is a ministry that is worthy of your consideration and is funded solely by donations.

While Rebecca has used the baskets to minister to others through her loss, Suzie has followed in her footsteps offering parents of newborn "heart babies" a source of HOPE (through Lindsay's story) as they face the scary world of heart surgeries and medical intervention.  To celebrate the second chance at life that Lindsay was given, Suzie has replicated the ministry in Michigan and now delivers  Love from Lindsay Baskets.  Like the Annabelle Baskets, her ministry is also funded 100% by donations and has lifted the spirits of many parents.  It, too, is worthy of your consideration.


In closing, hug your babies, give thanks for their health, and offer a sacrificial prayer for all those parents whose children are in need of a miracle or have already experienced the miracle that is Heaven.

Tea for THREE!

I LOVE planning birthday parties for my kids!  


I've mentioned before that my own childhood birthday parties are some of my fondest childhood memories.  It is my hope that my children will look back on their own birthday parties and see how much I loved showing them how special they are!


And I will confess... sometimes I enjoy the parties as much, if not more, than the kids do!


That was certainly the case with Emily Kate's third birthday party...


Tea for Three!


Emmie was introduced to "tea parties" by her tea-loving Aunt Jane last Spring.  She fell in love with the idea of drinking out of a tiny fancy cup!  After receiving a child's tea set from her Aunt Jane this summer, we've had several impromptu "tea parties" for fun.  So when it came to choosing a theme for her third birthday party, a tea party seemed a perfect fit for my fancy girl.


We had most of the props already... I used my own dishes and adorned the table with garden-like decor, place mats made from scrapbook paper, and of course, lots of tea cups!


Each place setting had its own tea cup filled with pearls, a set of white gloves and bracelets, a boa, and a party hat.

I discovered the "printable" concept and bought a cute little DIY set from Etsy.  I cut a gajillion circles... they were everywhere (including the ceiling!)

The girls dressed for the tea...

We served a tea-sized lunch.  Fruit kabobs, small deli sandwiches and chips.  And the desserts were tiny too... mini cupcakes and wafer cookies!

I made tiny heart shaped peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for the little girls... I don't think a single one was touched!  The ONLY thing the little girls wanted to do was pour the tea, put sugar in the tea, stir the tea, and drink the tea!

There was singing and blowing out candles...

And then we had mini cupcakes... LOTS of them!  They were so delicious that we ate almost every single one of them!  Emily is literally shoving them in her mouth!

We played games...

And of course, there were presents!

And then there was more pretend play in the playroom! 

Finally, it was time to head home and Emily handed out teapot cookies to her little friends.

It such a fun and special party for my sweet THREE year old girl!

{the best group picture we could get!}

Happy Birthday Emmie Kate!

Side note:  I really do love planning parties!  I don't find it to be stressful at all.  I guess it's my choice for a creative outlet.  Some people cook.  I decorate and plan kids games!  I also think that simple parties are just as special as themed parties.  Kids certainly don't need props and decorations to feel special... I just happen to love birthday parties!  And I know I only have a short window of time when my kids will think my parties are "cool".  Much too soon, they will be begging to spend their special day with a large mouse with buck teeth named Chuck E Cheese!  So I'm enjoying it while it lasts!