4 Ways to Make Guests Feel Welcome in Your Home

Summertime is coming up, and that usually is code for visitors.  We've all been guests in someone's home, and we can all agree that some homes seem more inviting than others.  What can you do to make your home more comfortable for your guests? A good starting point is to think of things that made you feel comfortable in homes you've stayed in.  Here are some things I've come up with to make my house a home for my family and friends:

1. Have linens and extra toilet paper in an area that is easily accessible to guests. 

When you show your guests their room point out where they can find the towels and such. Have some bath towels, hand towels, and washcloths for them to use. Also, have a place that they can hang their towel to dry.

2. Have extra toiletries on hand.

Point these out to your guests as well. If you aren't sure about what toiletries to have on hand, think of things that you need when you are getting ready for bed. It is so frustrating when you forget them because you don't want to go to the store late at night. At Target and Walmart they have a ton of travel-sized items at super cheap prices!

3. Keep the bathroom well stocked with disposable items.

Have cotton balls, Q-tips, tissues, and even some hand lotion in a spot that guests can easily see. These are items that are usually forgotten when you pack, and its nice to have some around.

4. Keep your shower stocked.

Have some shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash readily available. Most guests bring their own, but this way they don't have to deal with the finicky travel-sized bottles. What are some ways that you make your guests feel welcome in your home?

How to Recover Your Chair Cushion

Jeremy and I went to a yard sale and scored this beauty:

I was so excited to find such a cute chair.  The seat of the chair was not is great shape though, so I decided to cover it. Here's how I did it.  It was crazy simple!

At Walmart they sell a pack of foam that works perfect for chair cushions.  I put the seat of the chair on the foam and cut the foam to size.

After, I draped the adorable fabric on top of the foam and the seat of the chair.

I turned it all upside down and stapled away, making sure that I pulled the fabric tight as I went.

Here's the finished project.  It took me about a total of 15 minutes.  Talk about a great/easy project!

Strawberry Colada Cupcakes

Today I realized that I  hadn't done my visiting teaching for the month of March, and seeing as today is February 28th I figured I probably should do something about that quick.  I whipped up a batch of cupcakes, frosted them, and made Jeremy walk around with me to drop them off.  What a sweet man he is.  The recipe I used was from yourcupofcake.com again.  I seriously love her cupcakes.  Today's concoction was Strawberry Colada Cupcakes:

Strawberry Colada Cupcakes

Coconut Cake:

1 box white cake mix

3 eggs

1/3 Cup oil

1 C. coconut milk

1/3 C. sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp. coconut extract

Strawberry Buttercream:

1 C. butter, softened

4-5 C. powdered sugar

2-3 tbsp. strawberry jam or preserve

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Shredded Coconut

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line pans with cupcake liners.

2. Sift cake mix into a small bowl and set aside.

3. In a large bowl combine eggs, oils, coconut milk, sour cream, vanilla extract and coconut extract.

4. Add cake mix and stir until smooth.

5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 17-22 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

6. Buttercream: Beat butter for 2 minutes. Add in powdered sugar until thick. Add strawberry jam 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach the right flavoring. Taste to test :) Mix in vanilla extract.

7. Pipe buttercream onto cooled cupcakes.

8. Sprinkle with coconut.

How to Spruce Up a Secretary

This secretary was one of my recent fun projects. I saw a picture of a secretary with a colorful inside on Pinterest, and I loved the idea. I also love the idea of opening up the secretary for a fun way to display decor. Jeremy and I found this piece of furniture at a thrift store for $15. Talk about a steal of a deal. It's a fun throwback piece that adds a pop of color to the room.

How to Make Leg Warmers Out of Knee Socks

So I found a super way to make baby leggings. They turned out great, and it's an easy way to dress your baby and have great diaper access.

 I used ladies knee socks from Target.  They have tons of colors, and if you watch you can get them on sale or clearance. 

 Cut out the heel and the toe.

 Save the rest.

 If you are making these leg warmers for a baby you'll want to cut off an inch from the fabric that was in between the heel and the toe. If you are making them for a toddler you can skip the next few steps.

 Turn the fabric so that right sides are together.

 Sew the edges back together with a zigzag stitch. 

 Turn the fabric tube so that the right sides are facing out, then sew the raw edges together to make a mini tube. This will be the cuff at the bottom of the leg warmers.

 It will look like this when you're done.

 Slip the tube around the raw edge of the sock so that the zigzag edge and the raw edge match up.

Sew the two edges together

 Flip the cuff and you have a leg warmer!

Move over Jane Fonda. We have a new leg warmer fashionista!

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Cupcakes

I finally got my icing piping kit.  Thanks Amazon!  This week was my dear friend, and former roommate, Kenze's birthday.  To celebrate we had a little shindig at our house.  I was put in charge of cupcakes.  I had Jeremy pick which recipe to do.  He chose the Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting recipe from yourcupofcake.com  That was fine with me, considering that my favorite shake to get at the Malt Shoppe is their hot fudge banana shake with peanut butter.  He did have one addition he wanted in the recipe though.  He wanted me to put Reese's Peanut Butter Cups at the bottom of them.  I did so, and they turned out amazingly!  See for yourself:

The thing that is tricky about making these delicious cupcakes is that you want to eat them all the time.  We just started a Nicholls's family health challenge that Jeremy and I are bound and determined to win, and we can only have 4 sweets a week.  Having treats like this around the home is no good.  We're holding strong though, don't you worry.  Here's the recipe from yourcupofcake.com:

Cakes:

1 cup ripe bananas, mashed

½ cup oil

¼ cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs

1 box Devil’s Food Cake Mix

Peanut Butter Buttercream:

¼ cup butter

8 oz cream cheese

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-4 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1.      Preheat oven to 340 degrees and line about 20 muffins tins with cupcake liners.

2.      In a large bowl, mash bananas (about three) using a fork to get rid of all large lumps. 

3.      Add oil, buttermilk and vanilla and stir well. 

4.      Add eggs one at a time, being sure to mix well in between each addition. 

5.      Slowly add cake mix and mix well. 

6.     Fill cupcake liners ¾ full (This is where my recipe differed. I put enough batter to thinly cover the bottom of the liners then added a full sized peanut butter cup.  Then I filled the liners with the rest of the batter to make it 3/4 full) and bake for 12-15 minutes (mine took a little longer) or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean.  Be sure not to over bake them, and place them in an airtight container as soon as they are out of the oven. 

7.     Buttercream: Beat butter, cream cheese and peanut butter until light and fluffy (should take about 5 minutes).  Add vanilla and as much powdered sugar as desired (I used 5 cups). 

8.     Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

 Enjoy!

I didn't let any Christmas happen. I Grinched it up so hard I didn't even let it snow!

This year for Christmas we traveled down to St. George to spend it with my family. It was so fun to see everyone!

Christmas Eve night we had a delicious dinner, then we acted out the nativity as my dad narrated the story. Ellie got the role of baby Jesus, I was Mary, and Jeremy was Joseph. Brey was loving being the angel and shining his flashlight "star of Bethlehem."

After the nativity story we played bingo (Jeremy and I got a pineapple slicer and stationary) and Deal or No Deal (we won $75!). 

On Christmas morning we opened presents, ate a delicious breakfast, and spent the day hanging out with each other. Jeremy got the new Super Smash Bros on the Wii U, so we played a lot of that. Our nephew Brey kept asking Jeremy if we could pay the "fighting game." He loved that game!

Late in the week my family went skeet shooting. It's our family tradition to go during the holidays. Ellie and I stayed  home though. I figured she wouldn't appreciate the loud noises.

We had such a great time down south for the holidays. Ellie loved being with family and meeting some of her cousins.

Her cousins loved meeting her too. :)