Toddler Easter Basket Ideas

The LAST thing my one year old needs is chocolate or candy. He has enough energy to power our house, so I know he’s better off without the extra caffeine. I wanted to get my little man an Easter basket this year, since last year he was barely a month old, but I was determined to make it simple and practical.

Instead of using that messy grass stuff that would be found in my house until Christmas, or worse, in his mouth, I used green tissue paper to stuff the bottom of the basket. It still gave it the grass effect, but was fun for him to play with momentarily and WAY less of a mess. I also wanted it to be small so that it wasn’t overwhelming for him and didn’t break my bank. I stuffed the basket with plastic Easter eggs (which he hasn’t stopped playing with since he discovered them), books, yogurt melts, and a green frog stuffed animal that he gives precious hugs to all the time. Again, I wanted simple, cheap, and cute and I feel I achieved that. You can too!

A few eggs in the basket to show the green tissue paper instead of the messy grass stuff.

He couldn’t decide what to play with…so all of it at once!

Valentine’s Day Kissing Booth Photoshoot

I had so much fun taking these adorable pictures of my little man that will be sure to embarrass him when a future crush sees them. And she will see them…cause that’s what we do. Moms embarrass their children with stuff like this.

I was inspired by a cute picture of a baby with lipstick kisses all over him and decided to take it a step further…a kissing booth! I created this little scene using things I already had around my house.

See if you can handle the cuteness…I barely can. 

I made the hearts on the crate out of “candy cane” wrapping paper I had left over from Christmas. I thought it worked perfectly for this!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

forest theme nursery.

As promised (even though it took me almost three months), I am posting pictures of Isaiah’s forest-themed nursery. It’s not like I’ve been busy lately or anything…

I got the inspiration for this theme from the material used on the crib skirt, valance, and bench pad cover. I fell in love with it when I saw it at Joanne’s. We actually got the last of it, because they are no longer making it. My husband and I enjoy the outdoors, so this theme seemed perfect for us, plus it’s gender neutral so if we ever have a girl it will work for her as well.

We went with all espresso colored furniture. I think it really brings the forest theme together. The dresser is from wayfair.com and the glider and bench are from Target.

My sister made the awesome clock. We made the side table tree stump (found here!) and the lamp (post coming soon for that). And of course I had to decorate with my favorite book as a kid, “The Giving Tree”.

An up-close look at the painting I did, which has the bible verse responsible for our baby name choice.

A better view of the book shelf bench. The pad cover was made by my wonderful mother. The middle cubby has a few small toys in it. It will be so sweet to see Isaiah sitting on the bench reading his books one day.

I absolutely love this part of the nursery. The crib is from a second-hand furniture store (we are proud of that too – not ashamed of saving money) The crib skirt was made by a family friend. She is a master seamstress, so she did that and the valance for us. The yellow crib sheet (found at babies-r-us) matches the yellow bunny in the material (it’s difficult to see in the picture). The breathable mesh bumper pad was from Target and the owl musical mobile is from Wal-Mart. I made the wall hangings above the crib.

An up-close look at the name plate I made with materials all from Michael’s craft store. I bought the letters, painted them white, hot-glued them to the tree stump, hot-glued the owl to it, and attached a wall hanger on to the back (one of those claw-looking things).

A closer view of one of the picture “frames” I made (again, materials all found at Michael’s). To complete this project, I bought the tree stump and a package of tiny cloths pins. I painted them green to match the theme and add some color and hot-glued them to the stump. It doesn’t get much easier to change out pictures. Once we get some professional pictures of Isaiah done we will replace the maternity pictures with those.

One more view of this side of the room to show the shelf my husband made with the monitor and picture frame. The wicker hamper was a gift from my sister. It goes perfect with the theme of the room.

Just another look at the wall hangings.

The shelf was extremely easy to make. We bought another one of those tree stumps from Michael’s and two shelf holders from Lowe’s. I stained the holders with a dark stain to match the furniture. My husband then cut one of the sides so that it would sit flat against the wall. He nailed the holders to the stump and then attached it to the wall. I plan to switch the picture in the frame out eventually as well.

The final side of the room is the changing table. I ordered the tree wall decal off of Etsy. The dresser is from wayfair.com, the changing pad and cover from Target and the fox diaper holder was a gift that went too perfect in the room not to use!

One part of the room I didn’t show is just the closet door (boring), BUT on the wall beside the closet is where this beauty hangs. I love it so much, because the tree was painted by a family friend, but then at my baby showers, everyone placed their thumbprint and signatures on it to create the leaves. It turned out so great and it is something I will always cherish.

Hope you enjoyed seeing Isaiah’s forest-themed nursery as much as we enjoyed creating it!

DIY Thank-You Gift Idea for Labor and Delivery Staff

I was days away from delivering our baby boy when I realized I had nothing to give to the staff at the hospital for all of the wonderful care they provide (at least from what I’d heard). I love giving gifts, so I came up with this easy, inexpensive gift. I know it’s not much, but it showed the staff their hard work was appreciated! And it really was!

I bought a big bag of the “fun size” peanut M&M’s and made cut-outs that read, “Thank you for taking care of our little “peanut” and taped them on each bag. I gave one to anyone and everyone that dealt with us while we were in the hospital, from L&D nurses, to recovery nurses, to my doctor that delivered the baby. They were all so excited to receive them.

Trust me, if you have time to do something like this before going into the hospital, do it. It will make their day just a little bit better just by getting something small like this. And they really do work their tails off with a smile on their face.

And who doesn’t love getting chocolate?! This is just an easy way to show your gratitude.

“you know you’re a mom of a newborn when…”

Over the past few weeks I’ve had the luxury of realizing what it’s like to lose your mind…aka…have a newborn in your house. Here are just a few of the silly, ridiculous, embarrasing things I have done in the days since bringing our baby boy home. Welcome to my life as of late.

“You know you’re a mom of a newborn when…

you almost walk out of the house without shoes on.”

you are so out of it you put body wash in your hair while in the shower.”

you get excited when help (daddy) arrives home, because you realize you can actually take a shower.”

you almost fall asleep standing up.”

the diaper bag becomes your purse.”

you go to bed at 8:30 on a Friday night.”

you cry at least once a day (silly hormones!).”

you’ve become a pro at doing things one-handed.”

you’re pretty sure you couldn’t pass a field sobriety test/walk a straight line, not because of alcohol consumption, but due to extreme exhaustion.”

you get excited when the mail comes, because it means you get to leave the house for two minutes (because when there’s a polar vortex every other day, you don’t get out much!

love just took on a whole new meaning to you!”