Getting Ready for Easter

Hello!  We are hosting Easter brunch again this year and for the last week or two I have been prepping for it.  It's a fun, relaxed family day where all 20 of us are in the same place at the same time  - for a few hours at least.  There will be lots of food, simples dishes like this that can be started the night before so the morning of isn't so crazy,  followed by an egg hunt for the kids. 



These little guys are serving as food descriptions.  I printed and then cut out a bunny template ( similar here), glued on a cotton ball tail and a pennant made out of two small post it notes and a toothpick! 
I'll write the description of each dish on the pennant  - once I finalize our menu!
 

Little name cards held with pretty binder clips from the Target dollar section.

Plastic buckets filled with a few things for the kids and ready for egg collecting!

And everything else!!





Have a great day!! Pin It

Tweet

Valentine's for Daddy

This is my third (and final) Valentine's Day-related post - promise! 

I think I'm safe posting about the cards the girls and I made and bought for him since I don't think he makes it to this site too often: )  It used to annoy me, he'd ask me a question and I'd say SEERIOUSLY? DO YOU EVER READ MY BLOG?!?  But for today's purposes that's just fine.

I've had this maze game since Christmas - I think it was supposed to be a stocking stuffer that didn't make it in.  So happy I kept it (and remembered where I put it) because it worked perfectly for this Valentine from the girls.

I love finding unique/funny cards on Etsy.  Last year I got Scott this card and this year I found one from the same shop that was equally funny/true.

Funny.

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day and long weekend!!

See you back here on Tuesday!

Pin It

Tweet

Valentine's Day Party #2

Hi! So yesterday I showed you what we put together for Hadley's heart day celebration, today Layla's Valentine's Day cards!

Scissors | Treat Bags | Sour Gummy Worms | Cardstock | Marker| Stapler

After scrolling through hundreds of ideas with her, Layla picked out these fun gummy worm treats that I thought were cute and would be appreciated by both boys and girls.  She requested that the zig zag pattern be in pink so I recreated the original - tweaking it a bit - to fit what she wanted the design to look like.

Love these!
Tomorrow I'll share what the girls and put together for Scott!

Pin It

Tweet

Valentine's Day Party #1

I never used to think too much about Valentine's Day before I had kids.  Yes, I wanted to go dinner on the big night, but that's about it.  Now, from the beginning of the month until the big day we are all about hearts and pink and candy and love around here...and it's made the month of February one of my favorites!

Rice Krispie Treats - soon to be hearts

Our first school party is today, Hadley's preschool Valentine celebration.  A few little snacks, handing out cards (with NOTHING attached - a mistake I made a few years ago with Layla's cards) and gifts of appreciation for her teachers.  Fun!

We found these cute printables here.

I let Hadley pick out her Valentine cards from some of the printables I found on Pinterest.  She liked these cute boy/girl hearts ones the best.  With these she can give the card to whomever it matches - they have different hair colors and styles.

Lastly, we put together these cute thank you gifts for her teachers as well as Layla's.  And all we needed was a few mason jars (I have ton after doing this little project) printable tags, bakers twine, scrapbook paper and lots and lots of M&Ms.

I'll be back tomorrow with how we made Layla's Valentines! Pin It

Tweet

Almost February

Hi!  I have two serious decorators-in-training here, so our Valentines Day prep started two weeks ago.  Today we'll be making our newest holiday wreath, watercoloring and hanging hearts on every available surface - I can't wait!!

 

 

 

 

Have a happy weekend!! Pin It

Tweet

Wreath Season by Season - Holiday 2013

So it's been a loooong time since I did one of these posts - but I recently made our holiday wreath and thought I would share.  I decided this time around to try using some natural greenery (i.e. magnolia leaves) to spruce up the front door.  I stuck with the same base (yarn-covered foam wreath form) and just tucked the stems of the leaves under the wrapped yarn - surprisingly they stay in place pretty easily!  I added the white flower (artificial) because the leaves looked a bit flat and then added the red ribbon after looking at the wreath from the street - it needed some color....

The inside window panes each have a paper snowflake hanging for a pretty view inside and out...that and I LOVE making them.

Happy Thursday!
xo
Kendra Pin It

Tweet

Valentine's Day Recap

I PROMISE this is the last Valentine's day-related post!  Just thought I would share a few of the highlights from our day yesterday via Instagram.   

 

 

Our day started with chocolate chip, banana.... 



This is the "after" shot.

 

The the girls opened:

A heart notebook for Layla, heart Post Its for both and a pink duster (yup a pink duster).

 

I cheated and wrapped the duster Hadley picked out the day before in the dollar section of Staples! She is too much.

 

 

Scott opened:

Found this cute DIY idea on Martha Stewart's website.

 

And later, he found this (an engineer print from Staples) behind the door of our bedroom...it is only visible when the door is closed (wink, wink).

The pdf for this (and others) can be found here. I "framed" the print with bright blue washi tape.

Have a great weekend all!
xo!
Kendra

Pin It

Tweet

Happy Heart Day!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!  Gearing up for the big day I started to notice how many hearts we had hanging (some literally) around the house.

 

 

 

 

From top left: 1. Heart teaspoon set (we also have the cup set) Target dollar section 2. I purchased the full pdf set of characters from Caravan before Christmas and made blocks for Hadley. 3. Painted heart by Layla. I always look forward to what art will be in her bag after a day of school - this one proudly hangs on our pantry door. 4. A little heart box - another Target dollar section find. 5. Pretty barrette from Layla and Hadley's grandma (Scott's Mom) she bought a set for both girls - along with the adorable outfits you see below.  6. Heart straws - these make drinking milk so much fun. 7. Foam heart "glasses" - you guessed it Target dollar section.   

 

It's not secret that I love finding new uses for things so when my Mom was getting rid of this cardboard log (that held candy from Crate and Barrel) I brought it home with us and sealed it with a little heart sticker. 



My lovelies.

Hope you have a lovely magical day!
xo!
Kendra

Pin It

Tweet

Dots and Planes and Valentine's Day

For Layla's preschool Valentine's Day party this week, we are making heart cookies and (since the kiddos will be exchanging cards) Layla and I spent the weekend working on these cute little handmade cards for all of her friends.

I created a simple template in Word (nothing fancy) with some text and a few clip art airplane images. I set it up so I could print two cards per page. After Layla decorated the back of each page with her dot paint set, I just cut the pages in half, added a strip of washi tape and attached an airplane pencil eraser with a piece of embroidery thread.




Loving how these turned out!

 

There are a ton of great DIY card templates to print on Pinterest if you still need something for your little one!

 

xo!

Kendra





Pin It

Tweet

Pinterest Challenge - Christmas Mantel

For the past few years I have decorated my fireplace mantel with my Christmas carolers.

This year I decided to use a little more whimsical approach.  I really like the look of an empty picture frame, so this idea was the center of my mantel this year.

Kendra spray painted one of my old frames a bright red.  I added a wreath with poinsettias, some fun metal Christmas trees, large red balls, and a few of my favorite snowmen.

My mantel is rather narrow, so just a few branches and some lights, and I was finished.

I added all of our stockings and hope that Santa will find our home this year!

Pin It

Tweet

Wreath Season by Season - Holiday 2012 Edition

Hi! Thought I would share my latest wreath - you may remember my last one from this post. This time around I decided to stick with the coral yarn already on the wreath form and simply added some green holly and a few glittery white deer stickers that I picked up at Michaels.

After hanging it I thought  it still needed something so I hung a glittery star ornament from the top.

Pin It

Tweet

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like...

Oh you know the rest!  Holiday decorating was in full swing around here last week and the tree and outside lights went up over the weekend so we are offically in full blown Christmas mode!



One of the "treats" in the advent calendar I made.
 A cardboard tree ornament that Layla painted and then sprinkled with sequins.



I wanted to make the stair railing a little more festive so I followed this simple tutorial using scrap red and white fabric I had.



The new pillow in the front living room (from my lovely friend Belinda) and holiday horse.



I cut out a bunch of snowflakes from white computer paper and they now adorn every window in our house!



Let it snow!



Right side of the mantel.  Cardboard cones from Michaels wrapped in left over yarn.
 Along with one of Scott's old toy trucks and a glittered covered moose - of course.



Left side of the mantle. Another cone this time wrapped in left over baker's twine and a few deer stickers. 
Another toy truck and a Ana striped candle.



Our Christmas tree.

Stag bowl (filled with ornaments) from Michaels.

Pretty pillow found in the clearance section of Target - $11!



Quick holiday update to the side table - left over tassels from the railing garland drape over the lamp shades
 and a glittery horse is added to the glass dome.



The kitchen built-ins got a little sparkle from a reindeer candle holder, a confetti bush (no idea what these are really called)
 and a few ornaments.



Oh and Buddy (our Elf on the Shelf) made his debut this year.  The girls love looking for him each morning.

 

Pin It

Tweet

DIY Advent Calendar

Last year I wanted to make an advent calendar but got started a little too late and it just didn't happen.  This year, I was inspired by this pin and ordered my supplies early enough to create an easy, inexpensive calendar that looks cute and the girls love.

I used small polka dot kraft bags, mini clothespins, red and white baker's twine and a bunch of stickers from Michaels.



The supplies.

 

I painted an old frame with leftover Moonshine paint and stapled five rows of twine onto the back .

 



 

 Then I added the stickers - spelling out the numbers on some to  mix it up.

 

 

 

I filled the little bags with candy, crafts, stickers and other trinkets that I would Layla like.  Hadley enjoys watching her open them.

Lastly, I used the min clothespins hang the bags from the twine.

I love it and it's fun to watch Layla run up to it each morning totally excited to see what her next "surprise" will be! Pin It

Tweet