that's a wrap

I love to wrap gift cards in clear pillow boxes.  I usually fill them with candy or gumballs. This was for coffee so I used coffee beans instead and wrote "thanks for bean so nice".  

stay camp

After quite a busy summer last year  (a trip to Ireland/Italy, my husbands 40th birthday, my 20th high school reunion....)  I am really enjoying the lazy days of summer this year.  I decided not to sign my kids up for any camp.  I like having them home.  I like being flexible enough to wake up and say let's go berry picking today.  I know the term "stay-cation" is used quite frequently these days. I decided to create "stay-camp" like day camp only we stay home.  I asked my children what they wanted to learn more about.  My three year old said "buzz lightyear" so I interpreted that as Outer Space.  We had a lot of fun gathering books at the library.  We made some crafts.  We played outside with some astronaut bubbles and moon sand.  We had a fun themed lunch and I was even lucky enough to find some "Space Adventures" goldfish!  What I love about this idea is the flexibility.  If it was beautiful outside we went to the lake.  If it was raining outside and the baby was napping we cuddled up and read a book or did a craft.  Last week we started our next theme- castles.  Since it was very hot out we spent a lot of time in the water.  We didn't get to do enough crafts and I ran out of time to make an ice cream sand castle with the kids.  So, we decided to continue the same theme this week.  Did I mention I love the flexibility?    I guess you can take the teacher out of the classroom but you can't take the classroom out of the teacher!

that's a wrap

Today I thought I would share how I organize my ribbon.  I store my rolls of ribbon in a long basket, sorted by color.  I also save my scraps of ribbon- small pieces leftover from a roll or ribbon from a package that we have received.  I can never throw it away! I put the scraps into pretty glass jars and vases. Some of the scraps are sorted by color like the tall glass vase above that is filled with red and white ribbon, others are all thrown in together. Since they are in glass I can easily find the perfect ribbon for a gift.

cute as a cupcake

My husband celebrated his birthday this past weekend. I am sure most of you have already seen the cupcake shaped cake mold.  I picked up this one at the Christmas Tree shop for $8 when we went to the cape!  It is made of silicone and it was so easy to make.   I made a carrot cake (from the box) with some homemade cream cheese frosting.  Yum! The cake was delicious and since it was from a box, it was a big time saver.  I haven't found a store bought frosting that tastes as good as homemade and this recipe was quick and SO delicious.  I thought it turned out cute and the kids loved it- hopefully as much as my husband.  Hope your weekend was sweet too. 

that's a wrap

This was a gift we gave to our friend Luke.  He likes Spiderman.  Inside were some sand toys, goggles, an inter tube and sidewalk chalk.  I personalized the shovel with his name and attached a lollipop to the ribbon to complete the gift.  I love to wrap gifts in cellophane and always try to have a roll on hand.  It is especially useful for gifts (like buckets) that are an awkward shape to wrap. 

seven year itch



 ( photo courtesy of Claire Murray)

My husband and I celebrated our seven year wedding anniversary while we were at the Cape.  The traditional gift for seven years is wool.  Perhaps that is how the "seven year itch" originated!  Anyway, I was planning on getting my husband a monogrammed cashmere blanket and a movie, but since we are in the middle of summer here in Connecticut, curling up with a wool blanket was the last thing that I wanted to do.  Instead I thought it would be fun to go pick out our present together while we were on vacation.  Claire Murray makes beautiful rugs and since they are made of wool it seemed like the perfect gift and new addition to our bright yellow kitchen.  This is the rug that we ended up purchasing.  I love it and we were able to get it at a great discount too!  I haven't picked our movie yet if anyone has any suggestions.  I was thinking of something with seven in the title.  "Seven", "Snow white and the seven Dwarfs", "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers".  You get the idea.  If you want to learn more about our anniversary traditon you can read about it here.

cape cod

We are back from a week at the cape.  Here are just a few things that we love about the Cape....

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you get to eat pizza at the beach

You can paint your toes pink and wear fun flip flops!

You can get up-close and personal with lobsters.

                                                 


And they throw candy at the parade!

                                                   

                                                  

Hope you had a fun holiday weekend too!  More next week.