Poolside Snacks! Pudding + Cool Whip = YUM!

So, in a Better Home & Gardens magazine a few months back I found a recipe for a poolside treat that sounded amazing, I am horrible about ripping things out and remembering them so I took a picture of the recipe and pinned it. Have I mentioned how much I love Pinterest? Well, when I was thinking of a treat to take to a morning playdate I was so happy to reference the recipe I took a picture of a few months back. These turned out AMAZING, they had the texture of ice cream but didn't melt like ice cream and were a hit with the kids. I used vanilla this time and I can't wait to try different pudding flavors in the future.

Source: via Julie on Pinterest

Beach Memories

We just got home from a great vacation in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Although the weather wasn't ideal, we did have a few nice days to enjoy the beach. One afternoon in particular, the in-laws offered to stay in the condo while the kids napped and the hubby and I got an afternoon alone on the beach. Not only was it delightful but we got lucky in that it was low tide and there were TONS of sand dollars on the shore. Growing up in Houston, I don't think I've ever seen even a whole sand dollar, let alone so many. One group of girls had almost 50 of them. We collected what we could find in 20 minutes, which were still more than I can find space for and decided we'd take them home for souvenirs. So, now I have about 20 of these things and I need creative ideas on how to display and use them since they are definitely a rarity.

After a couple bleach and sun sessions, they are finally at a white that I am happy with, I like a little bit of the brown detail around the star, it keeps it authentic, ya know?

Here are some of my favorite projects in utilizing these sea creatures.

I bought an inexpensive empty frame from Hobby Lobby (only $7!), took a piece of card board left over from one of my many Amazon packages I came home to and used mod podge to cover it with some burlap. I then put mod podge on the sand dollars and let them set on the burlap overnight, with a little stapling... a wonderful souvenir is made and already looking at it on my wall reminds me of our wonderful vacation and a place we love so much. Oh, and if you are wondering, the sand dollars symbolize our family, I picked out different sizes to represent our family of 4.

I used some of the other ones to create a centerpiece and a few of them as some souvenirs for Lily and some of her friends.

 I love (almost!) free beach memories!

Summer is here! Wait, School is over??

Even though my 3 year old is only in 2 days of Mother's Day Out a week, I value those 10 hours a week and love having something new to help her learn and make new friends. Next week is the last week of school (eekk!), how I am going to entertain 2 kids all summer long?? I'm thankful for 3 long vacations so at least we won't have a ton of time to sit around staring at each other. The Mom in charge of Lily's year end party had the cute idea of buying buckets for each kid and each Mom bring something to put in the bucket for the kids to use this summer. I came up with 2 ideas (with a little Pinterest inspiration) that I thought turned out super cute and will add to the summer buckets of fun.

I used an envelope I cut out on the Cricut (5 1/2in worked perfectly) to go around individual Kool Aid packets and then tied them on silly straws. "Have a "KOOL" Summer!".

I also purchased inexpensive shovels from Target (with a large handle) and used paint pens to create a personalized shovel for each of the kids in the class.

No, I didn't forget the teachers! I think they need a fun summer gift too.... complete with a beach towel, flip flops and a few purse essentials like sun screen and lip balm. I'll attach a sweet card & a gift card too!

I am definitely looking forward to lots of time by the pool, at least the water tires the kids out! Happy Summer!

A yummy Easter... and happy to wear my white shoes!

I had a lot of fun with all the different spring and Easter inspired ideas this year, especially the ones I can eat! With all the birthday and baby shower craziness in March, I was delayed on getting anything going for Easter and sadly didn't get to doing very many crafts. I sure did make time for the priorities though, the food! Check out some of my favorite ideas of the season.

My favorite and Easter Sunday dessert choice was inspired from this post on Roots and Wings and turned out amazing, the best description I could come up with was a Baked Easter Smore. The way the peeps hardened and melted and how the M&Ms softened just enough but still had a little crunch to them make this dish amazing. You could really do this with any holiday, it seems like there are peeps for all seasons these days! I definitely think it was a thumbs up.

The completed dessert:

We had a great pre-Easter Saturday breakfast with a baby chick (eggs & pancakes!) and lunch with some colorful tuna salad too!

The one Easter craft I did was for Lily's class. I loved how the waffle cone made this look like a carrot and what 3 year old doesn't love to eat a waffle cone full of candy and jelly beans?? I even got a couple of compliments from other Moms!

I have a Spring pin board full of ideas and hopefully next year I'll get around to doing a few more of them! Happy Easter!

Trevor's Space Themed 1st Birthday Party!!

Trevor had an amazing 1st birthday party, it was OUT OF THIS WORLD! ha. My little Astronaut had a great time with his family and closest friends and I had a great time creating his party! We hung "planets", also known as homemade pom poms and shooting stars (star cut outs on ribbon) and an assortment of homemade banners.

 

My favorite little project was making shirts for me, the hubby & big sister to wear that matched Trevor's NASA space suit purchased from Amazon. Just a little fabric paint and some stencils on a cheap white tee and we had a family of Astronaut trainees! 

Here is my spread of dips and chips and the wonderful cakes from Sweet Treats by CC. Don't you love my fabric pendant banner?? I have so much fun making these. This one is now hanging in Trevor's room as it is made of all different space prints. We had buckets of space themed goldfish & moon pies on a stick! And of course, no party is complete without it's own "Keep Calm.." sign.

 

 Look at these pretty girls and their space themed skirts from PrettyLittleHappy! 

 All the kids received name badges that said "Astronaut Trainee" to wear at the party & their favor bags included space themed treats like moon pies, milky ways & starbursts and foam space shuttles. They were "Preflight Snacks & Goodies" for all the little Astronauts.

 and who doesn't love a good photo opportunity banner for the guests??

T minus 1 month!

T minus 1 month until Trevor's first birthday party!! eeekk! One month sounds like a lot of time but when you throw in the in-laws visiting for 5 days and working on a friend's baby shower, one month doesn't sound like enough time! Trevor's theme has always been space, so of course his birthday party is going to be space themed also! Unlike Lily's party (and I know it common with 2nd children), I am keeping his 1st birthday party low key. Just family and our closest family friends. For Lily's 1st birthday, I had planned all these outdoor activities and it rained so I ended up with 40 people in my living room. I am still going all out with decorating and festivities, just with half the people. Here is a sneak peek of some of the stuff I've been working on.

Here are his invitations that I either printed or emailed to our guests.

 

...and the fabric pendant banner I just finished sewing to drape across the kitchen. I used some fabric from one of his crib sheets to make it extra special and something to use at future birthday parties!

Oh, and I know you wanted to see some more of Trevor in his cute astronaut outfit that he will be wearing at his party! :)

Chrystal gets married!

My good friend Chrystal and her new hubby are now home from their honeymoon and I thought by now they've had time to rummage through their gifts, and who knows their excitement from my easy homemade gift, but I am more than excited to show it off! So, going through a registry is less than exciting, we all

know it is stuff the bride & groom want and need but it is always so boring picking what kitchen utensil you are going to buy the newlyweds. With the holidays and everything going on, I waited a little too long to buy Chrystal & Kenny a wedding gift (shhh... don't tell) so I was trying to use my creativity and my amazon prime account to find something quick and useful. Well, I noticed on their registry that they hadn't received their cutting boards yet, well, it wasn't my style to just give cutting boards so I though how cute and creative it would be to decoupage the back of the wood board.

So, a little mod podge, scrapbook paper, the handy cricut and some varnish and I created a cutting board to put on display! :) I'm sorry Chrys that I gave you a gift that you can't return but I thought it turned out pretty darn cute! Congrats again Chrystal & Kenny!