The Man's Birthday

For those of you who are keeping up, I am trying to blog twice a week. So, watch out for posts on Monday and Wednesday mornings.

Today, I am show casing the dessert table I did for hubby's birthday. The party was a surprise party so I was able to get my decorating on way before the party by choosing fall colors. I hit up the 99 cent store for the ceramic owl (piggy bank) and the vase fillers. I also found some awesome orange and gray chevron fabric to use for my backdrop and serve as my color palette for the party.

I don't believe in reinventing the wheel so, I usually search for free printable to meet my needs. I found the gray happy birthday pennant banner here: http://hellobrielle.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/happy-birthday-banner/. I printed it and attached it to twine with some small clothes pins that I found at Daiso. I usually just pin my banners because I am too lazy to punch holes, it is faster, and looks good.

I envisioned cover my backdrop with several paper rosettes. But the truth is, I did not have the time. I needed to cook for the party. I used this tutorial: http://www.howdoesshe.com/chic-paper-rosette-backdrop-tutorial/ After making the first three, I decided I needed to allocate my time better.

The birthday cake was decorated with another free printable:
http://www.karaspartyideas.com/2011/11/free-mini-cake-pennant-bunting-for.html


That's it folks. This one is a quickie because I need to pack my house and go. Until next time my friends.

Nicole

A not so 31 Wife Confession

Hi friends

So today, I am being called to confess my sin; first, to humble myself and second to send a message so you learn from my mistakes. I know this is early in the blog to be this real but what did you expect from a blog that has a biblical reference in it's name?

James 5:16
New International Version (NIV)
16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Friends, I have a covetousness problem. You can see it in the introduction part of my blog where I say "Obsessed with milk glass, succulents and cool things vintage."

Luke 12:15

New King James Version (NKJV)And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness,for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

And living in that kind of sin is not glorifying God or being a good 31 wife. It has caused turmoil in my marriage. I turned to material things and hoarding, shopping, thrifting, to try and escape the pain I feel inside. And the sad part is, I did not even realize how out of control it all was. Until now.  

There is a parable in in Matthew 25:14-28 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2025:14-28&version=NIV) about a Master and 3 servants. In the end the 2 servants who were faithful with what the master gave him were rewarded. The servant who was not faithful was not rewarded and what the Master gave him was taken away and given to a faithful servant. 

I have been an unfaithful servant. I was not prudent with our money. I have been blessed with a husband who earns enough money to sustain our family and meet all our needs and then some. I took the money and filled every single nook and cranny of this house as I remained unfulfilled and empty. I was not living beyond our means but I was spending our money on stuff, things I did not need. I was buying things excessively and not even using things. This in turn caused frustration within my husband. The stuff caused clutter and makes my home difficult to keep tidy. After a long day of work my husband was coming home to a cluttered house because the stuff was just laying all around the house.  I blamed the arrival of a second child and inability to get into a new routine. The second child is 8 months and I still could not get my act together. Instead, I just kept getting more stuff.

My sin plus some other things that I am not willing to share in blogland have made our marriage and our family life fall out of control. Although this was not the root of our issues, it is the fruit of much larger issues we are working through. 

But because of GOD's grace and mercy, there is redemption. As you all know we are selling our house. It has sold. We are moving into a 2 bedroom apartment. From my home tour you know that I have a four bedroom (plus a shed and a 2.5 car garage) full of stuff from the floor to the ceiling. To move to our apartment, that means the stuff has to go.

So this past week, I have been purging. I posted my stuff on Instagram and have had friends and family come and buy my stuff. I have seen my stuff that I love go out the door. But God is so good that my heart is rejoicing in it because I get to see my stuff bless people I know. I still have the garage, the shed, and the Christmas stuff, the kids toys, clothing, and much more to purge before we move. 

The 2 bedroom apartment is my chance at redemption. I get to prove that I can be a faithful servant. And I know that when I am a faithful servant, that God will reward me. 

This 2 bedroom apartment although humble will be where my marriage will be restored, renewed and refreshed through the Lord. Because he can breathe life into dry bones. 

Now before you all go out and cry about my two bedroom apartment move, the place is not bad at all. They are luxury apartments (apartment tour post to come). Totally remodeled and complete with stainless steel appliances and washer dryer. But it is a swank place where hubby and I can park our family and get back to basics.

So with that my friends, I leave you this verse:

Matthew 6:19-21
Treasures in Heaven

New International Version (NIV)

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.


Nicole

Home Tour

So all these great blogger do home tours. I am actually in the process of moving. Our house sold recently so I am getting the house all packed away. This house was our first home. Before we moved in, we gut the whole place.

 Come on in folks.

Here is my beautiful kitchen (my favorite room in the house).  We had new cabinets put in. There used to be a pass through window but we had it knocked down and extended the counter so week could use it as a an eating area as well. (there is my "enjoy" sign on top of my fridge)

Then there is the dining area. We hung a contemporary brushed chrome light fixture and a big mirror. I staged the dining area with vintage 1940's milk glass plates. My buffet has two Fenton vintage hobnail cake platters and a Mosser glass vintage style cake platter that you can still find today. I found mine on ebay the seller is  Liveforhim2012 (love the Jesus reference). 

Here is my living room. The fire place was brick we had it refaced and put a 6 foot mantle. We also have a built in that I designed. I use plenty of milk glass in my decorating to offset my dark furniture. I love milk glass. 

The first room is our office and craft room. I sew in here. That yellowish piece is a vintage record holder. I use it for storing fabric. 

Here are my kids' rooms. Two tone paint and a chair rail with a chandelier for added fanciness. The nursery I never quite finished. I used to be a guest room. My vision was a vintage style nursery. But I basically rocked what I got.

The Master Bedroom. I never got around to hanging anything on the walls because I was always afraid we would have an earthquake and all the frames would come crashing down on us. 

Here is our master bathroom. See the little bath tubs on the toilet? They all broke. The hooks on top of them fell and all the bath tubs crashed on the tile. I guess my mini bathtub collection is not meant to be.

Now let me get real with all of you reading this. These pictures of my house are from a massive clean up to get it ready for an open house. Before you all ooh and ahh at how this can pass as model home clean, let me give you the honest truth. We took all our clutter and stuffed them in laundry baskets in the garage. Here is what my home looks like on any given day :

Until next time friends.

Nicole

Cinderella Party

We threw our four year old the ultimate Cinderella Birthday Party. Below are some of the pictures and details.

Prince Charming, Fairy God Mommy, Cinderella,Poor Cinderella 

The costumes (for the family) were all sewn by me. For the Prince Charming costume, I followed the great tutorial by Ashley at Make it & Love it (http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2010/10/prince-charming-costume-tutorial-from.html). I did not make hubby's pants, they are store bought. I had to hand sew gold ribbon down the side. The shirt was a store bought shirt and I carefully picked off the collar and pocket then added the embellishments. For the Cinderellas, I used store bought patterns and added embellishments. Poor Cinderella is a basic peasant dress pattern with a half apron. The Fairy God Mommy is just a quick skirt and a the cape is a circle skirt with an attached hood (lined with pink) and ribbon made using the circle skirt tutorial by Dana over at Made http://www.danamadeit.com/2008/07/tutorial-the-circle-skirt.html.

Welcome to my Blog

After years of contemplating, I have decided to start a blog about the things I do as a housewife. I plan on sharing tutorials for my creative endeavors, some thrift finds, recipes, Pinterest hit and misses and just other things that may be interesting to someone.

I have been thinking for sometime about the name for my blog. I have always struggled with my role as a house wife. I always thought I would be a ball busting corporate girl with a big and fancy title and the pay to match it. But silly me, God had other plans for my life. Before we got engaged, my husband and I rededicated our lives to the Lord. After being Catholic for 26 years, I thought I was a "pretty good" Christian. Then came the true test of my faith and obedience to the Lord. We got pregnant on our honeymoon (thanks to all the advice everyone was giving us to try right away) and had a baby before we were even married for a year. Her story is here:
http://www.addisonesther.blogspot.com/2009/12/addisons-diagnosis-and-prognosis.html

So here I am today basically throwing all my education out the door and being reeducated in the fine arts of home economics. I won't lie, I hated it for a long time. Until I went to my first woman's retreat. They gave us these stones that had one single word written on it. Mine was "ENJOY". I thought "God, you gotta be kidding me, I am a housewife with a CPA and Masters degree and not only do you want me to be obedient but I have to ENJOY?!?" I was quite upset at the stone I received. But from that retreat I learned that I had to enjoy my time at home so my family could benefit from my even being at home. My change of heart, changed my home, it was cleaner, happier, and more organized.

The name of the blog stems from Proverbs 31:10-31 about the virtuous wife. She is basically the biblical woman we all love to hate. Perfect in every way (like Mary Poppins but better). Any woman who has her kids and husband call her "blessed" is who I want to be.

The next part of the name of the blog is WIFE. To walk the Christian walk, we must prioritize the way God wants us to. Our priorities are supposed to be GOD, Spouse, Children... But many times, we forget and put God in the back burner and we put our children before the spousie. Let me tell you from experience though, if you put your kids before the spouse, then the marriage turns unhappy and the kids will be unhappy. And if you do not put God first, how are you supposed to get along with a spouse? God first always wins.  So when did being called a "house wife" become so wrong? "Stay at Home Mom" or "SAHM" is the new politically correct term. I never want to forget my first ministry of being a wife 1st, Mommy 2nd. Without my husband, I cannot even be a stay at home mom.

The "fo'" part of the name is just a little shout out to growing up during the gangsta rap era. And it just sounded cool.

And the "life" part is because this is my life. I plan on being his wife until death do us part. Heard someone say once the secret to a long marriage is not to divorce. Oh so true. The happy marriage part I believe can be attained.

Welcome family and friends to 31 Wife fo' Life.

Nicole