Big Girl Bed

So, my two year old insists on sleeping with her parents. I am trying to find ways to convince her she would prefer to sleep in her own room.  We converted her crib to a toddler bed a while ago, so I decided to make some big girl bedding as well.

We WHISK you a Merry KISS-mas

This year I wanted to add a little creativity to my Holiday gifts (while still giving people something they would use).  For my daughter's teachers I decided to make gift baskets, which included oven mitts, spatulas, measuring cups, measuring spoons, whisks, and jars of Hersey Peppermint Kisses.

Hello Kitty Christmas Birthday

Today I hosted my niece's birthday party.  Since I went with a Nerdy Hello Kitty theme for her older sister's party, I decided to do a Christmas Hello Kitty theme for hers.

Christmas Chairs for the Little Ones 

Older Girl Favors- Hello Kitty Key Chain, Personalized Snow Pail, & Personalized Water Bottle

Favors & Cookie Containers

Mini Milk Bottles

Gourmet Popcorn- Green Apple, Cherry, Peppermint, and Cocoa Flavors

Cupcakes!

Gourmet Popcorn!

Cookie Decorating Station...the girls LOVED this!

Last but not least...a snow ball fight in 60+ degree weather

The girls had a blast, so the late nights preparing were definitely worth it :-)

Give Thanks

Thanksgiving was busy, busy,busy! I made place mats as thank you gifts for my daughter's teachers.  I also make custom sand/leaf pails for all of my little cousins.  As a special treat for the little ones, I made "Turkey Gobble" (which is Chex Mix with Goldfish Crackers instead of nuts).  For my daughter's therapists, I wrapped caramel popcorn.  I am thankful for my wonderful family and all of the special people who help my precious little one.

Happy Halloween

My daughter is blessed with some amazing people in her life.  One of her aunties made her this beautiful custom shirt and headband.  It will be perfect for pictures in her daycare's pumpkin patch!

Trick or Treat

I decided to make some treats for my daughter's classmates.  What child doesn't like Cheese Puffs and Playdoh?  :-)

Hello Kitty for Preteens???

My niece's birthday is only two weeks away and she decided to have a skating party with a Hello Kitty Theme.  It was challenging to come up with favors that older girls would enjoy, but I hope I passed the test.

Nerdy Hello Kitty Favors =  fashionable glasses + apple red candy 

It seems like an A+ to me, but hopefully my niece and her friends will agree!

Yo Gabba Gabba Music Instruments

What does a mom do when she has a little time on her hands during nap time?  She has fun with duct tape, craft paper and snack containers.  I decided to collect several containers over time and came up with the idea to make simple music instruments for my daughter.  While creating I decided that a Yo Gabba Gabba theme would be perfect!  I am hoping to make some of these for a large event at some point, but the fun was coming up with the initial idea

Instruments include:
Brobee Bongo- cheese doodle or powdered formula container with dried black beans inside
Muno Maracas- yogurt puff container with rice inside
DJ Lance Rocker- milk (in my case Chick-fil-a Tea) jug with children's craft sand inside
Gabba Guitar- shoe box and wrapping paper roll
Toodee  Tambourine- craft top (from Michaels) and bells
Foofa Flute and Plex Piccolo- I cheated and purchased toy flutes from the dollar store ;-)

Fun In The Sun

Summertime...perfect for outdoor fun and delicious on-the-go snacks.  Here are some little treats I decided to make for my daughter's classmates.  What kid doesn't like bubbles and Goldfish?

Summer Treats

I am so excited about these little treats I created.  I have been working on them for a while and they are finally done.  Yay!  It means a lot to have friends who are physically there to support you during the challenging times and celebrate with you during the good.  I wanted to let some of them (and their little ones) know how much I truly appreciate each of them.

Nascar Box Car Derby

My daughter's daycare is hosting a "Nascar Box Car Derby" and it gave me yet another excuse to get the creative wheels turning.  Although, my daughter refuses to cooperate and drive her car, I am happy with the end result.  Maybe daddy can convince her to actually participate in the derby.  For now she is just content with sitting in the car and sucking her thumb.

I Love Science

This weekend I organized a family event at the Museum of Life and Science.  We had lunch together and enjoyed the museum as a large group.  As favors for the kids, I made snack robots (using cups of oranges, cheese crackers, cookies, apple juice boxes, and boxes of raisins). My daughter loved the robots and would imitate a robot every time she saw one of my little creations.  I am glad that she really enjoyed the museum as well!

I Appreciate You!

Every year around this time mothers begin to stress out regarding what to get their child's teachers for Teacher's Appreciation Week.  The gift card route is always nice, but in the case where your child has multiple teachers that can add up pretty quickly.  However, you also don't want to waste your money on trinkets they will never use.  This year I decided to go with a simple idea I found on Pinterest (I Love that site).  There were tons of variations, but I wanted to go with a small beach bag filled with summer themed items.

Below is a breakdown of pricing for each gift:

Straw Beach Tote (Target Value Bin Section)- $3
Beach Towel (Walmart)- $6
Water Bottle (Dollar Tree)- $1
Photo Key Chain (Michaels)- $0.60 each (with 40% coupon for a pack of 3)
___________________________________
Total of $10.60 for this useful and personal gift!

Gifts Ready to Go! 

Close up of Water Bottle & Towel

 Water Bottle, Towel, and Key Chain

Close up of Gift

2nd Birthday Party: It's Done!

I had so much fun planning my daughter's second birthday, but I am glad it is finally over! I ordered and made a lot of things to make this day extra special and wanted to take the time to highlight a few items...

No Minnie Party is complete without Minnie Ears and cake!:-)  Credit for this beautiful cake and cupcakes goes to "My Two Sweetie Pies"

After searching for creative ideas on pinterest, I had to create a Minnie Coupe for my daughter .  There are tons of sites with tutorials and different methods.  My favorties were Megan Kunkel's and The Hunted Interior.

The main thing I wanted to do differently from most sites was the ears.  I didn't want to use the wooden version (although I have seen some extremely cute versions).   I re-purposed an old toy that my daughter no longer played with to make my lightweight, plastic Minnie Ears (Playskool Elephant Ball Popper).  I also used pink polka dot fabric (I found in Joann's fabric) and made a stuffed bow to place on top.  The ball popper ears have a small hole on the left but it was easily covered from the front with my big bow.  I sewed my bow to the ears using the small holes that were already in the ears, so there was no need to use any glue for attachment.

As mentioned in previous posts, I made topiaries, invitations, tutus, centerpieces, party chairs, banners...you name it and I probably made it!  LOL!

Party Invitations

I made ears with bows for my daughter and her two older cousins

Tutu for Birthday Photo Session

I love these topiaries!

Favors: Personalized Minnie/Mickey Pail with Shirt and Ears Inside

Banner #1

Banner #2

Close Up of My Minnie ;-)

Another idea I found on The hunted Interior site was the idea for my party menu.  We had hotdogs, baked beans, pasta salad, cheese puffs (my daughter's favorite) and pink lemonade.

Now off to plan the next birthday party! Actually I am planning a few mini parties in between.  Since I love hosting I thought it would be great to host a few play dates throughout the year.  I'm collecting items for a Music Mania Play Date now ;-)

Also check out pictures from my parties on "Catch My Party"!