Maracas

Today I saw this amazing post on MADE about how to make fun little maracas out of left over Easter eggs, which I have plenty of! 

I just HAD to try it with Adrianne. She had so much fun! All you need is masking tape, permanent markers, plastic spoons, something shake-able (like popcorn kernels, rice, lentils, etc...) and of course Easter eggs. Just fill up the eggs, tape it all together, and color on them. Then shake it up! Again, visit Dana's post for a more in depth tutorial.

I'm still alive!

I know, I know, I haven't posted in forever! My excuse: wedding invitations... If you are about to get married, the only advice I can give to you is to fork up the extra cash to have your invitations done for you if you can! I am really pleased with the way mine turned out, I got a couple of DIY kits. But, wow, they were much more hassle than they were meant to be. Mostly at the fault of my own printer, which refused to take the thick card stock. 

I must admit though, once I finally did get them all printed, it was nice to go out to the park and plant myself in the grass and plow through assembling them. It was a perfect day, not too warm, but definitely not chilly at all. The sun was shining, there was a very light breeze. And I just sat in the shade with my boy and put together nearly a hundred invitations!

What else have I been doing?

I made a new pattern! I have made Adrianne so many little felt foods, I want to share them all! But the patterns take much longer to make than I really have time for. I did get a breakfast set done though, which is now available in my Etsy shop! 

The best part is, since I have no time myself, my patterns are all designed with your lack of time in mind! They are super fast and easy to make, so if you don't have the confidence or attention span for some of the more elaborate felt food patterns out there, you'll love this one! (In my not-so-humble opinion...)

I've got so many more pattern ideas too! I wish I could get them all out there right away! But I suppose it's a work in progress. Like most things. Luckily, my artistic adventures tend to be the things I do to relieve my stress. Exercise has been another de-stresser for me lately as well. And stress is something I have plenty enough of. It's hard to keep it in check, but I have to remember how important it is to not get too stressed out.

What do you do to de-stress?

International Child Abduction

Peter Thomas Senese, author of Chasing the Cyclone, has recently brought to my attention this issue of International Parental Child Abduction. This peaked my interest because I had never before really heard anything about international child abduction, and was surprised to learn that it is a major cause for concern. 

Peter, himself, in fact wrote his book after his own child was abducted. He had to travel across the world in order to find and return home with his family in tact. This story is both extremely touching but also terrifying. To think of your own child being stolen away from you, perhaps never to be seen again?

The total number of International Parental Child Abductions that will occur over the next decade is expected to victimize over 1,000,000 children, 125,000 of them originating in the U.S. alone. The scariest part is that the average cost a parent will spend in their attempt to reunite with a child is $50,000.00 and only 10% of parents will ever bring their child home.

Reading Peter's novel can provide much more insight into what exactly it is like to have your child abducted, and I urge you to consider giving it a read. Peter has founded the I CARE (International Child Abduction Research & Enlightenment) Foundation, and all of his royalties from the book are donated to this cause.

You can view Peter's blog here, where you can read more about his cause and find his Youtube video series dedicated to the issue. The book's official website can be found here. And again, please consider checking out Peter's book:

Chasing the Cyclone

Feeding A Toddler

I got this great idea from a post for a Matryoshka (I've always wondered what those dolls were actually called) themed birthday party at On To Baby.

Well, anyways, I thought this was a great idea for a toddler meal, since my little girl loves to graze and really only likes to eat what she can pick up with her fingers.

But what I did was I used the bottom half of an egg carton instead of an ice tray. The holes are a little bit rounder, and it's way cheaper to use something you're going to have to get rid of soon anyway than to buy a bunch of ice trays! Also, it's recyclable if it starts to look like it's seen one too many toddler lunches.

What's In My Toddler's Lunch?

• Grapes
• Mixed Veggies
• Bunny Grahams
• Colby Jack Cheese
• Blueberries
• Pretzels
• Cheddar Bunnies
• Banana Slices
• Strawberry Slices
• Raisins
• Yogurt Melts
• Green Beans

It's fun, it's colorful, and best of all it's healthy! Every good food group is packed into this lunch! And I have never seen Adrianne eat green beans willingly until this idea came around. It doesn't take long at all to put it together because you're mostly just grabbing things from here and there. 

Adrianne doesn't usually finish every last bit, but at least I can rest assured that she has had a healthy and well rounded lunch when I give this to her! Well...Happy feeding!

Napkin Chair Covers

Chair covers are a popular choice of decor because they soften up the furniture and can really add a boost in color. The covers shown above compliment the table cloth and table settings perfectly with the apple green, white ribbon combo.

These awesome chair covers were made by a friend, Heidi! They are pretty and sophisticated, and of course they were simple to make. Can you believe they are made of cloth napkins?

Heidi simply took two napkins, and sewed them together, right sides facing with the ribbon in between, leaving the bottom open to slip them easily over the backs of her chairs. And voila! Cute, easy chair covers!

I've got some extra napkins that I think I'll try this for myself with. Thanks, Heidi!

Happy Easter!

Today we stuffed ourselves at two delicious family feasts to celebrate Easter! Then we had a great Easter egg hunt in the backyard. The girls had such a great time collecting all the little eggs filled with fun treats in their buckets! Here is our day in photographs:

This is five generations of my family! My little ones and me, my mom, her dad, and his mom!

Free Printable Friday - Egg Hunt!

Easter is coming up! And everyone loves a good egg hunt. So I threw together this fun scavenger hunt game with clue flags for your little ones to enjoy! You can write your own clues so the game is customized to your own home, and there are up to 10 clue flags. Stick them right inside some plastic eggs and you're good to go!

You'll have to download this in PDF format since there are lots of bits and pieces. Enjoy!

Download Now!

Sunday Rewind

To review the week in Instagram photos, we have been doing lots of wedding planning, along with family time, of course. I indulged in one of my favorite easy meals: pasta and peas with butter and romano cheese. Adrianne was given peanut butter toast and attempted to eat just the peanut butter sans the toast. Always lots of baby cuteness in this house! And we have had a newfound love for old toys: bumbo chair, johnny jumper, play table seat, etc. Although Adrianne got the flu for the very first time. It was very sad, she was so lethargic. But she got up the next morning and was ravenous, she ate practically all of our food! Flu was completely gone.

I hope everyone has had a great week! What was the highlight of your week?