Big Sister kit

I was recently invited to a baby shower for my nephew-to-be, so I instantly began scowering pinterest for the cutest items (I settled on basic NEEDS...clothes, diapers, etc) but I came across a "big sister kit" and of course...my creative juices started flowing!! Most kits included a shirt, and small activities. I settled on a coloring book/twist up crayons, a "New Baby" book (little critter is one of my favorites), and some snacks. Then I started on the custom items. I got a pink shirt and iron on letters from hobby lobby (I do sell the shirts on my page Belly Buttons & Baby Bottoms I got my friend from the Darling Diva "Bow"-tique to make a bow (as "crafty" as I am, I just cant seem to wrangle ribbon into anything that remotely resembles a bow...hers are amazing!!) and then I made her a matching Minnie mouse necklace also sold on my page! Here are all her goodies...

I added some tissue paper to a cute bin (also found at hobby lobby) and put everything inside! I can't wait to give it to her

 

Operation..SHHHH!!

Ok, so my princess is just over a year, the age where she is finding her voice and loves to communicate (she says hi, more, Momma, Dada, and Nay Nay (night night)) however she has no concept of what's socially appropriate...for example, yelling "HI" and waving her hand off to everyone that passes her in the grocery store...go for it. Standing on the pew and yelling hi to the person behind us in church during the sermon....not so much. So, I set out to make her something to keep her busy during those SHHHH moments, you know the ones I mean, where everyone is looking at you, and even your whisper has an echo. Our church does have a nursery, but....she is not so fond of going there and...I just cant seem to bring myself to force it yet. After making this I think its extremely CUTE...but well beyond her years, but I think she will like to at least look at it for now..and if it buys us 10 minutes of quiet, it will be well worth the time and effort.

 

I made her a "quiet book" a book full of fine motor activities made from mostly felt. I plan on making 3 hole punches in them and placing them into a 3 ring binder, this way I can add to the book often because I have SOOO many ideas, plus adding to it will make it new each time she sees it. I cant be certain it will keep HER quiet, but it kept me quiet while I worked on it! Here are the pages I have done so far!

"Ice Cream Shoppe" page, 3 scoops that are removable, and a place to store them!

                                                                             

"Pick the Apples" removable apples to place in a basket...complete with a tire swing!

"Laundry Page" The door opens on the washer, and she can hang the clothes to dry!

And my personal favorite a barn! I love how this one turned out! The animals are finger puppets!

                                                                                                                                  

I plan on adding lots more pages to this as I have time (who am I kidding, I barely have time to go to the bathroom!) I will add when I do!

 

 



First Birthday...DIY version

I figured I would share how my daughters first birthday turned out with you all, because I did post some preparations...but never the final turn-out. Here it is! She had her very own chair (complete with banner, balloons, pin and her bib! This was a simple set-up, but made her area look special.

The cupcake table! I ordered the banner, the cupcake stands were cheapies from Wal-Mart that I decked out with some ribbon!

Food table (Buffalo chicken dip, brown sugar smokies, chips, lemonade) The banner is the one I made, I had great plans for this table...but in a mad rush, just the basics got done, and guess what?? No one cared that I didn't go ALL OUT, they were more interested in the food ;)

Gift table, super simple set-up...the "back drop" is just plastic table clothes and streamers. I did bring her scrapbook. It contains everything from the first pregnancy test to her 11th month (12 month is its OWN book...way to many photos to cram into a scrapbook page or two!

and....her cupcake 'guest book" turned out really cute I think! :)

 

Buffalo chicken stuffed...chicken

Well, I had almost forgotten about my blog, and then it hit me as I was eating dinner tonight, that I started a 30 pins in 30 days adventure and never finished...because life took over and I have been oober busy! Anywho, I believe today would be pin #19 out of 30, I will do 30 pins, possibly in 30 months rather than 30 days based on the current whirlwind my life has been the past few weeks...nothing major, just my princess (better known as princess HURICANE) is now mobile..so I mostly spend my day following her around picking up dumped baskets/bins, and seeing what the newest thing is that she has decided to stick in her mouth. This has become more of a challenge lately because she now has 6 teeth and has learned how to use them just right to get my fingers out of her mouth as quickly as possible in order to continue her chomping on whatever small item she has dug out from the deepest crevice  of the couch. ANYWAY, tonight's dinner was a PIN, and a success so I figured I would hop on here and share while I have a hot second.

Buffalo stuffed chicken (Yeah, it was as good as it sounds!)

*I don't have a photo of it because #1 we were starving and because #2...who takes a pic of there dinner anyway?? (blogging was an after thought. I promise to be more prepared next time)

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2c cream cheese
1/2c ranch dressing
3/4c shredded cheese (I used mozzarella)
hot sauce to taste

cut a "pocket" in your chicken breast, stuff with buffalo mixture. Bake at 400 for about 30-40min. YUMMO