Just Some Cuties!

I am so excited to announce that one of my 3 little sisters is finally getting into photography!
See, I'm terrible with a camera 

(although every once in a while I get lucky with some cute ones like this) 

but it's about time that somebody in our family acquired such a great skill.

Hopefully within the next year you will see some major progress in the quality of the pictures here on my site.

PRE Halloween Preparations

So I've been thinking about it for some time now... what should my kids be for halloween?

And then it hit me like a $3 price tag...

DEVILS! 

(I am trying to stay true to their angelic natures of course!) 

 

Man, are they ever excited about it. 

Fortunately for me, there is no question as to whether or not the candy is worth the costume. 

Am I the meanest mom in the world?

Nevermind, don't answer that.

What are your kids going to be for Halloween?

I'm An Expert...

...at putting my computer keys back on! 

Can you believe... I put my 3 1/2 year old and my nearly 2 year old down for a little quiet time 

on a Sunday afternoon, 

and when I went in a few minutes later to check on them, 

THIS is what I found! 

Just loving this life of mine.

I was able to restore it

thankfully...

and the motherboard crashed (and died I might add) 

three weeks later. 

Again, love it!

24th of July Cuteness

I absolutely love the entire month of July. I get the 4th and the 24th
and I love the patriotism,
the red, white and blue,
the people,
the fireworks,
the parades
and the corker bows!
This time I added them to my little girl's shoes and I just can't get enough! 

Pass the Time Fun for Kids

My kids love this! 

Grab some cheap shaving cream from the store, 

give them a cookie sheet, 

tell them not to eat it 

and let them go to town. 

My daughter dives right in... my son takes a little longer and is a little more "prissy" about it. 

Isn't that the way it always goes?

Blooming Baby Shower

A few of my friends and I threw a baby shower

for our other friend Jo who just happens to be having twin girls.

How exciting!

We made it a "Bloom" themed shower as it is spring and she is blossoming in her own right! 

We gathered our inspiration from my favorite blog... 

makeit-loveit.com 

and we had a great time doing it as well! 

 

 

 

 

 We made our layered dessert cakes out of boxes wrapped in cute wrapping paper and then lined them with cupcakes, rice krispies, strawberries and brownies. Served it all with lemon water and waa-laa! 

Thanks to all the help, we also made some super cute diaper cakes to start off the gift table! 

Thanks to Michelle's expert diaper wrapping skills, Emily's bow making skills and 

Jennie's generosity in providing us a site, it all turned out so cute! 

We topped it off with bloom bottles! All of the flowers we decorated with were made into hair clips for her little girls so the decorations were one part decor and one part gift. 

How fun!

From Skirt To Sun Dress

I haven't posted for over a week! 

The shame! 

(I've been out sick... just a cold, but a mean one!)

Time to get back in the saddle again. 

I took an old skirt of mine and made it into a summer dress for my little girl. 

I love how it turned out 

and I love the detail in it. 

I even used the zipper that was already in the back of the skirt and just 

moved my pattern to place it perfectly in the back of the dress. 

 

 

Crib Sheet

One of the easiest and most necessary part of bedding, is the crib sheet. 

They are simple to make so you can do your own. 

Take a few measurements

(or buy a pattern) 

and there you go. 

Custom to go with any of your kids bedding. 

BETTER Ties

So, I wasn't happy with the first ties I did. 

They're a little cheap, and tacky looking. 

(They "look totally homemade" as my sisters would put it.)

So, I succumbed to consumerism and bought a dang pattern. 

Thanks to MakeItAndLoveIt and her awesome etsy shop, it was a breeze. 

I got it the next day and look how cute these ties are?! 

I *heart* them. 

(I know it'll turn into an obsession.)

I've already made about 10 and I've got 20 more cut out. 

It must be great to be a friend or family member of mine! 

J/k

A Great Site!

I couldn't believe that I hadn't shared this already... 

If you have kids, this one is great! 

www.starfall.com

My two toddlers absolutely love it and since my 2 year old

can't run the mouse by herself yet, I do it for them.

But it's fun and educational! 

We like the ABC's but the books are pretty fun too! 

Enjoy! 

Boys Ties

I want my kid to look good when he's all dressed up... 

but of course, I don't want to pay $15 for a toddler tie! 

So I did a little research. 

There isn't exactly a TON of info on how to do a kids tie so 

I took everything I did find, 

and jammed it all together in my head 

and I think I figured it out. 

Most of the directions I found suggested tying a Double Windsor 

(I can't get it right so the husband gets to be involved with this project) 

from the smaller side, 

trimming the rest off, 

and then creating a neckline that is adjustable.

(Velcro is the key here)

I did that, and then couldn't bear throwing the rest of the tie away. 

I'm working on making the larger end smaller 

and coming up with some kind of a Windsor looking knot. 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! 

Kids Playhouse

This wasn't my idea, but whoever came up with it was brilliant.

My adaptation was making it to fit my kitchen table. 

Goes up and comes down just as easy. 

My kids love it and we've even had a family camp-out in it! 

Easter Basket Goodies

I wanted some great stuff for my kids Easter Basket this year

without spending a fortune.

So I made pajamas! 

Way fun huh?

I'm thinking I'll do some sun dresses as well,

add some sandals, some bubbles, eggs and candy

and we're set!

Magnets

Loving these magnets that I made for my daughter's room. 

They match the cute letters on her wall. 

Just cut a circle, 

ModPodge it onto the back of the rock 

and hot glue a magnet on. 

I did a bunch for my kitchen as well.

(I used the large rocks here)

Expensive Flowers

I can't believe what people will pay

for these adorable and cute flowers for girl's hair. 

For better or for worse,

I'm not one of those people. 

What do I always think to myself? I can make those, for less! 

Here's the clue... take out all stabilizing pieces of the flower, 

and put the whole thing back together with hot glue. 

It is imperative that you wrap the top of the alligator clip with ribbon. 

I read another blog that suggested putting a tiny strip of velcro 

along the inside top of the clip to stop the slipping. 

Awesome!

(We did go a little crazy... my daughter alone ended up with over 75!!!)

They are just that cheap and easy! 

Gotta love it! 

Can't find the color flower you want? 

Spray paint it!

Need a place to put all those hair clips? 

Find a cute... whatever... sign, shape, picture, frame etc...

and glue long ribbons onto the back of it.

Then hang it on the wall.

Genius!

Time For A Haircut

I've never been to beauty school,
(although if I get the chance to do nail tech school, I'm taking it!!!)
so I'm not entirely confident as to what I'm doing...
but I thought it turned out well.
I just took clippers with the size 3 and went over his entire head,
then size 2 as I tapered into the 3,
then size 1 at the bottom of the skull.
I thought it made a huge difference that I had a "right ear" and a "left ear" attachment.
They make it easy.

Totally a great look for him and it didn't cost me a penny. 

Sport Signs

I found some awesome sport themed signs that I thought would be perfect for my little guys room. Unfortunately, even at 50% off at Hobby Lobby, it would still cost me $40 for all four of them. 

I just won't spend that much.

So I shopped around and found 4 papers that I liked...

Basketball

Soccer

Baseball 

Football

Then hit up my local Home Depot where they always do my cuts for me... for free!

Bought an 8' 1 x 12 and had it cut into perfect squares. 

ModPodged the paper on and I'm set! 

Great Toy

Just a little FYI for all you mom's out there. 

I heart the aquadoodle... all of them in fact! 

We have the mat that goes on the floor, the travel aquadoodles, and the wall mat. 

The pen is full of water and that's all there is to it!

The mats will dry within a few minutes and I love that my two toddlers can't 

write on the walls, 

or my furniture 

and I don't care if they chew on the tip! 

It is great and if you don't have one, I gotta recommend them for kids. 

Tu-tu's

Love these cute tutu's. 

Put your elastic around a chair while you half hitch 2 strips of tulle around elastic.  

I used a 1" elastic which I was much happier with than the 1/2" 

and I added pink ribbon to all the pink tulle. 

Fun huh?