Toddler Straw Valentines

Nothing like a last minute craft project!  I'm not a procrastinator at all, but when daycare told us on Monday night that Connor's class was having a Valentine's Day party, I only had a few days to prepare.  Connor had tubes surgery on Tuesday morning (second set) so we had some extra time in the afternoon to do some crafting.  

I decided on a simple Valentine's note with a non-food gift for each child since daycare is nut-free and it's hard to find snacks that all the kids can eat.  I printed out sheets of Valentines and then had Connor color on them with pink, red and purple crayons.

 Each circle is 2.5 inches and I used a hole punch to make hole on the top and bottom of each one.  It looked really complicated to get the paper on the straw without ripping it, but it ended up being pretty easy to do.

I ended up grabbing a little box of sticker for each child, so I just tied those on with a ribbon.


Happy Valentine's Day!

DIY Embroidered Luggage Tag

I always see these cute luggage tags in stores and they charge so much for them. Why pay a lot when you can make them yourself? I decided to make one for my sister and one for Connor to hang on his backpack for daycare.

You hardly need any fabric at all, so it was nice to use up some scraps. I started out making the strap from a long & skinny piece of fabric. (I don't really think the measurements are very crucial, so I just used what I had.) I started by folding each side towards the middle and ironing the creases.

Then I folded again and pressed the crease.

For the tag, I cut out two small rectangles and one piece of batting
I pinned the piece of batting to the back side of the fabric.
This cursive font is works really well for embroidery, so I printed out the text to fit the tag.

I used embroidery floss and a thick needle to embroider the name on. It seems hard to do, but it was actually very easy to sew just by using some tutorials I found on YouTube and Google.
Once the embroidery was done, I pinned right sides together and got the strap ready to go.

I placed the loop of the strap inside and the edges outside so it will work correctly when it's turned right-side out.
Only 30 seconds on the sewing machine to stitch the outside edges together and I left one side open.
I turned it right-side out and then folded over the edges to close the tag.

It came out so cute!

Connor's is made with flannel and uses a shoelace-type strap.

FREE personalized card!

So who feels overwhelmed now that the holidays are about to start?

:::raises hand:::

Me! Although, I really, really tried to plan ahead and get things done early this year so I don't get too overwhelmed.

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Enjoy & have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Lisa


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Embroidered Wedding Gift Pillow

My sister is just got married over the weekend and I really wanted to give her a special personal gift rather than something from her registry. I've been designing all of the paper pieces for her wedding, so I know she loves the monogram we used for everything. Why not put it on something she can display in her house?
I bought a pillow insert at the craft store and designed the lettering to fit in the space.

I printed out the monogram and the date we used on her programs, placecards, etc. and pinned it onto the muslin fabric I chose to match their living room decor.

I used gray embroidery floss to embroider the lettering onto the fabric. I leave the paper pinned onto the fabric until I'm done. Then I carefully rip the paper off and it looks perfect!

I gave it to her at her bridal shower and it was a big hit! I can't wait to see how it looks on her couch!

DIY Wedding Shower Ideas

My sister is getting married in a couple months, so I've been busy crafting and helping her with all things creative for the wedding.

For her shower, I designed these umbrella invitations and backed them in different colored pieces of cardstock because I couldn't decide on just one!

I think people get worn out of the usual guest books and giving the couple advice about being married. I wanted to make it more fun for everyone and I hope that my sister and her soon-to-be husband will be able to look back and laugh at this. I was really lucky to find this cute pink binder for super cheap and I added the little umbrella image I used on the invites.
I created a Mad Libs-style letter for each guest to fill out. Everyone seemed to have a great time combining some funny comments with the happy well wishes.

And since I was busy crafting, I figured I'd make her a little book to write down all her gifts she received from her showers and wedding. (She actually gave me a little book for my wedding, so it was kinda fun to give one to her as well.) I bought a little blank book and then found some pretty pink heart fabric to sew a cover for it. I also found this adorable little "I Do" iron-on applique and added that to the cover.

And well...might as well use up the extra fabric I had left and make her a little tag with her name on it! Tutorial for the embroidered fabric luggage tag coming soon!

It was a really fun shower to plan and I hope she enjoyed it!

Mother's Day Butterfly Footprints

Another fun footprint idea for kids!
Connor and I did another quick craft together and I quickly learned how much harder this is going to be as he gets older. Now that he grabs at everything, using paint is much more of a mess!
As usual, we do this in the bathtub so he can get cleaned up right away.
I stamped his feet on some colored cardstock and cut them out. I also cut out little butterfly bodies and used some silver pipe cleaners for the butterfly antennae.
I printed out this little poem and left a space to attach the butterfly.
I also wrote "Love, Connor" and the date on the bottom.

Hope the Grandmas like them!

Planning for the holidays

I can't believe it's already getting to that time! I try to get holiday planning done early so I'm not stressed when it gets closer. Also, Hanukkah tends to be earlier in December (or even November sometimes) so I like to start early. Luckily, this year Hanukkah is late so we have more time to enjoy the holidays and get in the holiday spirit.

I'm super excited to send out our first-ever photo cards showing off our new little bundle of joy! I've been racking my brain trying to come up with some fun photo ideas. What mom doesn't love taking tons of pics of their little one and dressing them up in cute outfits?

Because we're a mixed religion household, it can be hard to find cards that all our family & friends can enjoy. However, Shutterfly has a lot of options that I really love. I'm thinking about one of the holiday cards from here such as:

Charming Snowflakes

Simply Love

Modern Warm Wishes

And while I'm ordering, I may have to get a cute photo calendar for my desk at work because a mom can never have too many photos of her baby! If I have to be back at work, I need to have lots of pics of the little guy around me.
Just to make things even easier, I'm thinking about buying some personalized photo gifts this year for family & friends. I gave a few of these out last year and everyone loved them!

What kind of holiday cards are you planning to send out?

Cinnamon Sugar Almonds

Ever seen those cinnamon sugar almond carts in the mall and they smell SO good? I always want to buy some when I walk by and smell that cinnamon scent. But why deal with the mall crowds when you can make them yourself?

I served these at 2 parties and everyone thought I bought them! They were THAT good! They also make the house smell amazing : )

Adapted from here

Ingredients:
• ⅓ cups & 2 tablespoons water
• 1-⅓ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups almonds (Cashews also work. I made a batch of those as well.)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

In a saucepan, add the water, 1 cup of sugar and the cinnamon and stir. Bring it to a boil over medium heat. Be sure to keep mixing so it doesn't burn or stick to the bottom.

Add the almonds, raise the temperature to high and keep stirring constantly until the water is boiled away.

Turn the heat back to medium-low to keep the sugar from browning too fast. Keep mixing until the almonds start to have an even shiny coat.

Add the rest of the sugar and the vanilla and keep stirring. There may be some popping when you add them, but that's perfectly fine!

Keep stirring until the almonds are shiny, but still a bit lumpy with clumps of sugar. When this starts to happen, take them off the heat and pour them on sheets of parchment paper. Let them cool completely before serving or storing.

Pig out!

Perfect for a holiday party, little gifts, or just for yourself to snack on!