back soon!

I'm heading to Ireland today! I will be taking the next two weeks off from blogging. I hope that you will come back in June to check out a Teddy Bear Picnic in the park and a Bird themed Baby shower. Until then...

monkeying around

We are leaving this week for a family vacation in Ireland. While we are there, my husband and I are also flying to Italy for a wedding over Memorial day weekend. The kids will be staying with their aunt, uncle and cousins. I wanted to leave them little presents each day while we are away so that they will know that we are thinking about them. Since I am always calling them my little monkeys I went with a monkey theme. I found monkey jammies, books, stuffed animals and a puzzle. I even found a mix to make some monkey bread. I labeled bags for the days that we will be gone so all I have to do before we leave is stick one item in each bag. My daughter is already excited for us to leave knowing that she will get a little present for every day that we are gone. I am hoping that it will make it a little easier for all of us to be apart.

doll's house

My daughter got this play tent for Christmas last year. I thought it would be fun to make it into a little house for her dolls. We put the tent in her bedroom and moved all of her doll furniture inside. I love when I can find everyday things in miniature sizes and was delighted to find a doll sized Adirondack chair and laundry basket. I even found the perfect color (and size) rug to go inside too. My daughter loves taking care of her baby dolls in their very own house.

what are we doing today?

This is one of those projects that came to me in the middle of the night when I was soothing my daughter as a baby. I realized that there were 5 different sections on her closet door that I could use as a weekly calendar. I printed out the days of the week in pink and green and laminated them so that they would last longer. I attached scrapbook paper to some thin cork board that I bought in a roll and then hung it on the door. I use stickers and pictures to let my daughter know what she will be doing during the week and attach invitations to parties as well. It's a fun way for my daughter to learn the days of the week and keep track of events for her week.

rain, rain go away

When I was a little girl I always loved going to my friend Carrie's house. We had such fun playing with all of her toys and she even had a swing in her bedroom! One stormy day while I was there her mom pulled out a "rainy day box" filled with all sorts of fun activities. I still remember how excited I was that day and always knew that someday I wanted to make one for my own kids. I took a plain white box and glued on some paper umbrellas and pretty ribbon. I am going to let my kids decorate the umbrellas when I present it to them soon. Inside I put some hello kitty shrinky dinks, some bendable wax building sticks and some melty beads among other things. Some other great things to put in your box would be some beads, clay, finger puppets, or temporary animal hand tattoos. This kind of a kit would also be great for sick or snow days in the winter. You can fill it with anything and your kids will always be excited to choose from one of the activities.

"tea"rrific teacher

The teachers from my daughter's school threw a mother/child tea party last week. To thank them for all of their effort I made them these petite sugar cookies. I have had these tea themed cookie cutters for ages and have always wanted to use them for something. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. I originally made five cookies- the spoon, teapot, cup, cream pitcher and sugar bowl- but, then couldn't figure out a way to package all of them in a cute way. So, I used these three cookies and put them in a clear pillow box with purple shred and polka dot ribbon. I attached a tag that said "I think you are a "tea"rrific teacher!" This would also make a darling favor for a tea party or a fun gift idea for teacher appreciation week.