that's a wrap



(photo courtesy of Barnes and Noble)

 I am having some technical difficulties today.  Our laptop died so I am currently unable to upload any pictures from my camera.  Instead, I thought I would share this darling Peter Rabbit bag that I saw at Barnes and Noble.  If you think the front is cute you should definitely check out the back!  I am going to pick one up for my baby boy and will fill it with some fun things to use as his Easter basket.  I already grabbed some Peter Rabbit baby food that I found at Starbucks and some Annie's Cheddar bunnies to go inside too!  A carrot rattle might be fun too!  For more ideas about what to put in a baby's Easter basket you can check out this post that used another favorite Easter book as the inspiration.  This would also make a darling baby gift!

that's a wrap

photo courtesy of kate spade

This was a gift I gave to one of my favorite friends.  It was her 40th birthday and I wanted to do something special!  The inspiration for the gift was the Kate Spade bangle in the first photo.  On the inside of the bangle it reads "this is the year".  On the outside:  "play your cards right, lose yourself in a good book, add a twist, make sparks fly".  Along with the bangle, I gave her a little gift to represent each of the sayings.  A martini glass and nip of vodka for "add a twist"  and some lottery tickets for "play your cards right".  I found some sparklers in the shape of numbers and used a 4 and O for "let sparks fly." For "lose yourself in a good book" I gave her a gift certificate to a book store and attached a bottle of nail polish - the color is: who she's red!   This was such a fun gift to put together!

spring has sprung

Today is the first day of Spring!  Last week when I was pruning my forsythia bushes I took some of the branches and stuck them in a pitcher of water.  The buds were tight, but after a few days they opened up and the yellow buds now spread sunshine all over our dining room.  This is a fun (not to mention free) way to decorate for Spring.  My friend Maureen has a new blog with lots of ideas for keeping yourself organized as well as some tips for spring cleaning.  You can check it out the here. 

little leprechauns

Well, the leprechauns struck again!  They left tiny muddy footprints all over the house (thanks to Anna, who told me to use REAL mud and my thumb to make them.) They also left the kids new shoes filled with treats, including some green mustaches.  The children thought they were hilarious!  Since the children never get sugar cereal they were thrilled to find some lucky charms at their seats this morning. I am thinking that next year we will have a top of the mornin' brunch.  But, for today. we don't have any plans, which is fine with me. I plan on making some Irish Soda Bread and hanging out with my little leprechauns!

For each petal on the shamrock.
This brings a wish your way
Good health, good luck, and happiness
For today and every day.

wearing of the green

At the play date yesterday the girls also made some St. Patrick's Day shirts.  I had seen this article in Family Fun around Valentine's Day and then another friend had made one and posted it on Facebook.  She suggested it would be fun to make with shamrock shaped doily's and even purchased a pack for me.  Thanks, Laurie!  This was a very easy craft and relatively inexpensive too. I got the shirts at Micheal's- they are on sale right now- 2 for $6. You will also need a bottle of fabric paint and some foam brushes.  Both girls decided to wear their shirts to school today.  I am so glad that they liked them too.

somewhere over the rainbow

My daughter had another play date yesterday so I created a fun St. Patrick's Day menu for lunch.  I made these rainbow fruit sewers and added some fun rainbow ribbon to make them even more special.  The kids also had shamrock shaped sandwiches (that I cut using a cookie cutters) some rainbow goldfish and green limeade for their drink.  For dessert they had some shamrock shaped sugar cookies.  These fruit skewers are perfect for a school party or a top of the mornin' breakfast tomorrow. 

keep calm and kiss on

Another little "Kiss me, I'm Irish" gift for my daughter's kindergarten teacher.  I found the acrylic basket with shamrocks on it at Michael's.  I filled it with kisses and attached some ribbon and a tag.  It was that simple!

that's a wrap

These are little gifts that my kids will be giving to their classmates for St. Patrick's Day this year.  The lollipop pictured above is for my daughter's kindergarten class.  I attached skittles for my son's class.  I found the idea and free printable here. 

kiss me,i'm irish

In keeping with trying to teach our children about community service we decided to adopt a convalescent home for St. Patrick's Day.  I called to ask if it would be ok and to inquire about how many residents there were- 44!  We explained to the children about how people in convalescent homes can get lonely and that it would be nice to do a little something to cheer them up for St. Patrick's Day.  I got some green bags at the craft store and our older two children helped stuff five kisses into each bag (five - since the bags were small- and then there would be one kiss from each of us).  We also included a little piece of gold paper that reads "kiss me, i'm irish" along with a gold paper shamrock.  We are going as a family to deliver them and I know that the response from the residents will be enough encouragement for my children to know in their hearts that they made someone happy!

leprechaun trap

We were asked to work as a family to create a leprechaun trap for my daughter's class.  We took a tiny birdhouse that cost $1 at the craft store and turned it into a tiny house/trap for a leprechaun.  My daughter painted it brown and covered it with moss.  We stuck a pot of gold inside the house and made a ladder out of sticks.  We also put a rainbow and gold sign in a miniature terra cotta pot.  We had fun coming up with a story to go along with it about how the leprechaun would climb up the ladder and fall into the house only to realize that the gold was fake and that there is no ladder inside to climb out.  This would be a fun activity to do for a fairy party too!

that's a wrap

This gift used some interactive wrapping paper!!!  I bought it through a fundraiser at my daughter's school.  I added a metal "r" for the first initial of the birthday boy and my daughter enjoyed writing messages to him all over it.  I like that this paper can be used for any occasion and that it reverses to red and white polka dots!

dr. seuss

Tomorrow is Read Across America and Dr. Suess' birthday!  My daughter and her class are sharing a Dr. Seuss story at all school meeting tomorrow morning so I thought it would be fun to send in a little snack for them.  I wanted something that would be quick and easy so I have decided to send in some munchkins.  I am going to put them in cupcake liners and have attached some foam stickers to toothpicks to stick in each one.  I also found a cute Cat in the Hat pointer as a little gift for my daughter's teacher.  You can find directions for the snack that I made last year here.  Hopefully we will spend the rest of the afternoon cuddled up reading some Dr. Seuss books or we may catch a viewing of "The Lorax".  Do you have anything fun planned for tomorrow?  I would love to hear how you are spending the day.