friends, exciting news! join me at life made lovely for our home made lovely tour! i plan to share more details of each room here on the blog, but for now, i'd love for you to take a peek at our farmhouse! thanks, heather!
love,
natalie
how we meal plan: the meal planning kit & giveaway
i believe the commitment to our home & the work of our hands should be beautiful, creative & enjoyable.
i love making our own laundry soap because it saves us money & i get to put it in a pretty jar when i am finished. i don't mind sweeping our kitchen floors because the broom has a well-made wooden handle & looks like one my great grandmother might have used. i get a little giddy when i sit down on sunday evenings to meal plan because my paper meal planner inspires me.
above is the usual scene you will see when i am meal planning: a pretty bouquet on the table with a candle lit & a cup of coffee in hand. my homemaking binder continues to be a work-in-progress (i hope to share that with you sometime soon!), but it is filled with all-natural home product recipes & the loveliest meal planner pages.
i have used a lot of meal planners in my day from scraps of paper to free printables online. they were all fine, but they didn't exactly fit the needs of our family & i wasn't left inspired. when i came across amy j delightful's meal planning kit, i jumped on the opportunity & purchased one. it is full of helpful pages from a freezer inventory to printable recipe cards.
i specifically love this meal planning kit because it includes a space for every meal. i noticed that when i didn't plan my lunch, i made a poor choice & simply ate leftovers or whatever i saw first (i.e. tortilla chips with cheese melted on top). this meal planner allows me to plan our breakfast, lunches & dinner. i can now plan & enjoy a big salad when it's written on the meal plan & i have purchased extra greens.
i also love the grocery list. i print it out, put it on a clipboard & walk around my kitchen writing down foods we need. i bring that same clipboard to the store with me & cross off items as i shop.
would you like to win a meal planning kit from amy j delightful? i am so excited to offer one today!
simply-
2. comment below with your email address & one meal planning tip
i'll choose a random winner on monday & share the winner's name here!
love,
natalie
++ GIVEAWAY CLOSED ++
congrats to lovecakesoup for winning the giveaway! I will email you shortly!
greek yogurt chicken salad recipe
happy monday, friends! how was your weekend? we spent our days working a bit, relaxing a bit, soaking in this beautiful weather & hiking. i've also been brainstorming a couple of exciting new projects that i cannot wait to share with you!
for all of our busy days, it's nice to have a go- to recipe that's delicious & easy to make. this weekend i whipped up some green yogurt chicken salad wraps. they're amazing & healthier than the mayonnaise version.
i used the damn delicious recipe. i made a few changes, though. i used red grapes instead of green. we love onions so i added a bit of green onion, too. i didn't even add the apple. i just left it out & it was still perfect. we scooped our chicken salad into a fit & active multigrain flatbread from aldi's with a bit of lettuce. a delicious quick dinner with a side salad or sautéed asparagus.
savings tip: to save a bit more money, cook a whole chicken in the crockpot the day before rather than purchasing specific cuts of meat that are pricier. remove the meat from the bone & add it to a mason jar. use some of that meat for your chicken salad. the rest of the meat can be made into the next evening's meal. we enjoyed chicken quesadillas with our extra chicken!
check out my food pinterest board for more ideas. happy cooking, friends!
love,
natalie
free spirit jenny headband giveaway
oh, spring is in the air & doesn't it feel marvelous?
today i am here to share a little giveaway from one of my dear sponsors, free spirit jenny! jenny is such a gifted maker & blogger. if you haven't noticed her little sidebar ad, it's to the left of this post. stop by & visit her shop! i am smitten with her felt flower headbands & so excited to share them with you today!
i contacted jenny right when i found her work. her headbands are perfect for spring paired with a simple cardigan & jeans or a colorful dress.
jenny is kindly offering a headband of your choice in any color of your choice to one natalie creates reader! the one above is just the prettiest.
it's easy peasy to enter. simply...
1. visit jenny's shop!
2. like jenny on facebook or friend her on instagram @jennyvantland
2. comment below with your email address & one thing you plan to do during the spring season!
i will randomly choose a winner next friday, march 28th, & share that person's name on this post! happy winning!
++ GIVEAWAY CLOSED++ congrats, jessica! jenny will email you soon :)
++ GIVEAWAY CLOSED++ congrats, jessica! jenny will email you soon :)
love,
natalie
p.s. jenny is offering a coupon code of 20% in her shop to natalie creates readers! just enter Nat20 at checkout!
shop update today!
happy spring!
just a little reminder that the shop is open! stop by & purchase a set of happy flags or a cute headband in celebration of this new spring season!
love,
natalie
the family table
when luke & i graduated with degrees in hand from missouri, we were confident that life would present itself with adventure. we were craving new opportunities & experiences in wisconsin, vermont or anywhere up north really. life happened as it does & we immediately landed in our home state of arkansas.
we had no idea adventure would happen here, in our home state, around the family table.
it has been such a gift to land, settle & grow roots in luke's hometown. our farm isn't too far from my family & just three short miles from the home where luke grew up. every week you will find us around this table enjoying a meal together with luke's family.
these are my people, my family.
& i'm so happy we didn't move to wisconsin.
love,
natalie
the 2014 year of scraps quilt
last year when i made my first quilt, i vowed to make a quilt each year. my first quilt, a gift for my nephew, was the single reason i began sewing. i wanted to make him a quilt just like my great grandmother made me. something he could crawl on, build forts with & cuddle up beneath at night.
soon after, i fell in love with sewing. making tangibles with bits of fabric & thread to fit a need within the home inspired me. thus began my little natalie creates business.
each time i made something throughout the year, i collected the scraps in a little plastic bin on my yellow metal shelf in my studio. after several months, it was overflowing with bright bits of fabric.
the year of scraps quilt was born. my 2014 quilt.
i didn't really follow a pattern for this quilt. i simply cut up bits of fabric that were about 5 in wide & various lengths. i made it a lap size quilt partly due to my machine's capacity to quilt but also because i was in need of a quilt for cozying up at night by the wood burning stove.
i used a vintage sheet i thrifted for $3 for the underside. i was inspired by a friend to use a sheet for my quilt & i am so happy i did. i love the look & it was affordable, too. i purchased the quilt binding from the local craft store.
i didn't do anything special for the quilting. i just quilted it along the rows. simple & quick!
the year of scraps quilt is definitely goat approved!
i love the practice of making a quilt during the winter months. it brightens up my studio & brings purpose to the cold, short winter days.
this spring, i hope to make a handful of simple tunics for pairing with cardigans & leggings.
what's on your list to create?
happy monday, friends!
love,
natalie
p.s. the shop reopens this upcoming thursday at 8 am central time with reversible headbands & happy flags. yay!
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