Princess, with a storage Plan!

Well, we are mid February..so I am beginning to Christmas shop! Basically this early I am just starting to save money, and compile a list of what I want to look for when I am shopping. My daughter will be 2 1/2 at Christmas this year, and she LOVES to put on anything....and I mean ANYTHING pretty. (She is not ashamed to grab mommy's pretty (clean) undies as a necklace) ...I of course quickly take them away and give her something slightly more appropriate in case the mail man brings us a package. Again. Anywho..because of this obsession of hers, I decided dress up clothes would be a perfect Christmas gift for her!! I always check clearance racks, and after Halloween I plan to grab a couple clearance princess dresses. But, then comes the STORAGE hurdle. I found a million ideas on Pinterest where you transform an old dresser into a gorgeous standing "closet" but...we are already crowded in with all her toys, so I needed something slightly..less. SO!!!! I went to Wal-Mart, and grabbed myself a good 'ol tote. Now I know, This is hardly fit for a princess. So I scowered the store for something to decorate it. I settled on wall decals! They are cute...and were on clearance! TAA DAA!!! A dress up storage tote fir for a Princess!

Here it is!!

Yes...I did decorate the bottom of the tote, and you will only see it when its empty...but, that castle was to cute not to use! And...I am sure it will spend lots of time empty...with all the dress up clothes strewn around my living room!! 

Christmas Cookies!

I am a huge baking fan, I love to bake and find new recipes (baking is NOT to be confused with cooking...cooking, I could do without) I love the whole Christmas season, and baking goes hand in hand. So I thought I would share how I do my baking. I like to have Christmas cookies at any given time during the month of December, so rather than baking 5466326 dozen cookies all in one day, I bake two kinds each week so we can enjoy them, plus, hubby doesn't mind having gluten free cookies ALL MONTH!! (Yes, ALL of my cookies are gluten free! Here are the ones I made this week!

^^^chocolate Crinkles^^^

 

^^^Sugar^^^

 

Open on CHRISTMAS EVE!

 

Growing up, my family always opened one gift on Christmas Eve, While I do love this tradition, I wanted the "gift" to be special...New pj's? A special stuffed animal to sleep with? A Christmas Activity? These sorts of questions usually leave me perusing Pinterest for the perfect plan. I stumbled upon this GREAT idea! "The Christmas Eve Box" Our Family's box contains;

 

 

  New Christmas Pajamas

  An Ornament

  A Christmas Movie

  Hot Chocolate Mix

  Popcorn

 "Movie Theater" Candy

      

You could certainly include anything in your box that's unique to your family, these are items I chose to include, I may include the "last" Christmas book in our Christmas book countdown as well. There are so many special ideas and variations you could do to make it your very own!

All in a festive box! I think as Addie gets older she will really look forward to this special box, it is a "gift" but it has a movie, and snacks, something to enjoy as a family as we await those final hours until Christmas morning!

25 Books of Christmas Countdown

        We are in 100% full Christmas celebration over here! I thought I would take the time this season and share some of our family traditions, recipes, and projects this season! I am a complete Christmas junkie! I plan Christmas festivities like a bride plans a wedding, and scope out Christmas gifts with the same enthusiasm as a toddler searching for Easter eggs. All my Shopping is DONE (I started in February) wrapped, and ready to go! The stockings are stuffed, the tree is up and NOW I am just enjoying every moment of the season!
        The tradition I want to share tonight is our book tradition, I chose 24 books with a Christmas theme, wrap each book and starting December 1st my little one chooses one book each evening to unwrap and read as part of her bedtime routine. I think its a very special way to countdown to Christmas, I use them same books each year and just wrap them again. Some are classics like The Grinch, Frosty, Rudolph, etc.) but others are just fun board books that will be replaced as she gets older.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

These whoopee pies, blew my mind...its like a fall festival in your mouth!!

 

I will first, give you the recipe..and then the gluten free adaption...for all my Celiac lifers.

 

3 cups flour, 1T cinnamon, 1t baking soda, 1t baking powder, 1/2t salt, 1t nutmeg, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, 1c vegetable oil, 2 eggs, 1 tea vanilla, 15 ounces pumpkin (I used the pumpkin pie mix...it was FABULOUS

 

FILLING: 1 8z cream cheese, 1 stick butter/margarine, 16 ounces powdered sugar, 1t vanilla, cinnamon to taste

 

 

GLUTEN FREE: I substituted the all purpose baking powder with "Pamelas Pancake and baking mix" and since the gluten free flour does not thicken quite as much as a wheat blend I added an extra 1/2 cup, and did NOT put ANY vegetable oil in.

 

Bake at 350 for 11 minutes, makes about 2 dozen whoopee pies

 

Enjoy!!

 

 

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!