Paper Dolls! ♥ Thanks Auntie!

Aren't these paper dolls just adorable?! My daughters have thee best aunties! My sister made these for Ava and they are just too cute! She made them perfect for a toddler by laminating them! She also added color coded velcro so we could not only practice colors but also so that Ava would know which outfits went with which doll! Genius :) Ava has a blast playing with them!

ByeBye Droid! Hello Iphone!

We had a long weekend so we spent today running some errands and doing a little shopping! :)  I decided to finally make the switch. I'm a sucker for white! ♥

HappyBaby Review & Giveaway! HappySqueeze & HappyMorning Products

    As a mommy I am always searching for good snack "on the go" options! HAPPYBABY has some great options for easy snacks you can bring along. The girls both love the fruit smoothies sold by several companies; we've probably given them ALL a try! However I love how these new HappySqueeze/Happy Morning add some grains into the traditional fruit/veggie smoothie! I've been interested in trying them and was thankful for the opportunity to let the girls test them out!

     Glancing at the nutrition labels, I see lots of things I love! USDA Organic, no ingredients I can't pronounce & a high amount of protein! This is really great seeing as many of the competitors' fruit smoothies contain little or no protein at all...these HappyBaby products offer 6g of protein, that is REALLY great in my opinion! They also contain the supergrain "malba", great amounts of omegas3-s, and antioxidants...really?! Those are some great benefits packed into this little pouch! As you notice by the names "HappyMorning" they market this as a breakfast smoothie...and with all the benefits, this really does make a good breakfast on the go when necessary! But the true test....do my girls like them?!

(so serious. must drink smoothie.)

    Without a doubt, the girls LOVED these! It seems that their favorites are the orange & pumpkin and the banana! Ava did ask where the straw was though, lol! Since she is used to their other products with the built in straw! But believe me this did not keep either of the girls from eating them, although the straw would be nice! They are also a good size (4.2 oz) which is great too! I highly recommend these! The one I will note...is check the sugar on these! Some of them do contain higher sugar content than others, so if that is a concern of yours--scope them out, some have less sugar than others! I believe the sugar ranged from just 7grams (the orange & pumpkin flavor!) up to 13 grams. So if prefer one over the other, I recommend just taking a quick peek at the back before purchasing!

    Now onto the good part...the giveaway! The HappyBaby brand was kind enough to offer coupons for SIX of these products FREE to one lucky winner! The giveaway will close at 12:01AM 2/06/2012 EST and is open to US Residents only please!

    You have several ways to enter this giveaway, please be honest with all entries! Mandatory entry is that you must be a follower of this blog! If you have previously followed by blog, liked the facebook pages etc, that is great, fill out the form for that entry still! Please make note if you have used a different name to do any of these tasks (especially on facebook, twitter, etc) than the name you used to sign into rafflecopter!

Simple Saturday!

  Spent the day down in Los Angeles with the family today! We had some fun doing a little "window" shopping and found a cute little bakery! :)



 

Things I'm ♥ing Friday!

Here are some of the things I'm ♥ ing this week!

1. Green smoothies! Delicious & nutritious! ;)

2. Rebecca Minkoff Mini Mac! This cute little clutch is on my spring/summer wardrobe wishlist! I love the little pop of coral it will add to a simple summer outfit! Plus it's the perfect size for a mommy on the go!

3. Tarte "Tipsy" blush, going with the coral trend, this is a great coral blush! Every summer I get an obsession with coral...and it's already begun, lol. You can find it at Sephora and other beauty stores!

4. Cute Valentine ideas! I love this idea from Pizzazzerie!

5. Felt flower headbands! I've been meaning to order Ava one for ballet...then came across some great tutorials over at Craftiness is Not Optional and figured I'd might as well give it a go and try to do some myself! I'll let you know how they go :)

That's the end of the round up for this week! Have a great weekend everyone! ♥

Ballet Night!

Little Ballerina in class tonight!

Heart Shaped Pretzels!

I had a nice relaxing Sunday, which means I spent some time in the kitchen! I love that it is nearing Valentine's Day so I have an excuse to be super cheesy and make heart shaped everything, including pretzels!

you can find my favorite recipe over at the lovely Elephantine!

Now it's time to snuggle up with some good shows for the night! Hope everyone had a good weekend! ♥

Jump Starting the Weekend!

I know, it looks gross, but I promise it's SO good! You can find a good base recipe HERE and add anything you like!


& my Valentine's Day snack mix was featured over at IHeartNaptime's top 20 projects today! Go Check it out! :)

Things I'm ♥ing Friday!

1. OPI Pink Friday Nail Polish! I keep seeing photos of this and finally gave in and ordered it last night! I can't wait to get it, the color is gorgeous! Photo Credit

2. Coconut water! I have been obsessed ever since I gave up coffee. But I ran out :( Thankfully we will be running out to the store in a bit so I can get more! Photo credit

3. These Joyfolie shoes! All her work is so amazing but I am especially in love with these!

4. Sons of Anarchy! Yes, this girly girly here....is a Sons of Anarchy addict. My hubby and I started from the beginning and watch it like EVERY night!

5. Catbird rings! I just really love these stacking rings! I think I need...like 10 of them, lol! ♥

6. Wen Hair Care Line The more I read about this...the more I really want to try it! I would love to hear your thoughts on it if you've tried it!


Lastly, the fact that it's Friday! Hope you all have a great weekend! ♥

Playdate fun!

the girls going for a ride! ♥

Our little ballerina! ♥

I snapped some quick photos tonight of Miss Ava in ballet practice!


How precious is that?! ♥

Quick Thank You! ♥

Just wanted to take a minute to thank all of you for following along on my little blogging journey! I appreciate each & every one of you for visiting my page and I hope you all know that!

and a HUGE thank to to Jen over at Tatertots & Jello! ♥ If you guys aren't familiar with her site, you should go check it out! She has endless amounts of awesome DIY projects and craft ideas! Another site that is a huge inspiration to me so it brought a HUGE smile on my face to see my snack mix on your page today! :)



Thanks everyone!

Treats for your Sweets! ♥ Simple Play Food for Valentine's Day!

I'm helping a friend with some cute simple things to add to her Valentine's Day party & I figured I would share some of it with you all too! Everything I've done is super simple things that anyone can do!

I love finding alternatives to giving children candy and play food, especially play candies, is a perfect alternative!

I know I don't do 'full' tutorials on my blog very often..and the reason for that is that these things are so simple it almost feels silly to take pictures of each step, so I'm going to keep this simple and if anyone has questions...as always, you can feel welcome to shoot me an email or message!


many of you saw these little cuties on our Christmas post...they are the simplest thing! It's just 'mini' cupcake liners with a painted block inside, but they really add that cute touch to our cakestand!

for a cute alternative for the typical box of chocolates on Valentine's day...you can pop them into a cute paper mache box (which you can find at craft stores!) like this one!

we also added some painted "sprinkles" etc to some of our candies, Miss Ava just ran off with them! :)

and last, I did a simple Martha Stewart project, felt fortune cookies! I used pipe cleaners instead of the floral wire! I always have pipe cleaners on hand and I also thought it would be a little more 'safe' just in case my kiddos tried to destroy these! :) I used pipe cleaner and then glued a piece of felt over top!


and there you have it! Hope your kiddos love these as much as mine do! ♥

Little Beauty ♥

Sometimes I wish I could just freeze the time because she is growing up way. too. fast!

Quick Tutorial: How to Dye Doilies!

Some of you wrote in and asked where I bought the yellow doilies used in Alexa's birthday party! I chose not to buy them because it is SO simple to just dye them yourself and customize the color you want!

I remember doing this back in high school for one of our scrapbooking projects--it is PERFECT to do on your 'scraps' of doilies that you might have torn...wrinkled, etc! I simply dye them and then use them as embellishments for paper crafting!

I won't give a full tutorial because it's truly that simple. But, I'll let you know how I do it!

I fill the pan with just enough water to cover the bottom and then add in my food coloring. Then just dip it into the water for probably about 30 seconds, making sure that all of it has been covered. Then I pull it out and set it onto a paper towel to dry. I also like the 'dab' the doily with a paper towel after to ensure it has an even color!

Note: You can see by the photo that the color won't come out as dark as the water in the pan since it is only left in for a short period of time, so you can plan accordingly! You can also redip it once it has dried--if you want it a tad darker!

Hope this helps! ♥

Mommy Weaknesses ♥

I think as a mommy...we all need our little outlet! Our own 'thing' and lately...mine is anything beauty related! I've always been a girly girl and I really love makeup, nail polish & anything beauty related!


and cute packaging always helps suck me in :)

Coconut Shrimp!

another family favorite from skinnytaste! You can find the recipe HERE!

DIY Scalloped Chalkboard Easel Tutorial ♥

Many of you wrote in and asked for more information on our easel DIY! You all know how much I love Project Nursery, so I am thrilled to be sharing the project with you over there today! ♥

Big Day for Miss Lex!

Today marks little Lex's very first pigtails! Aww ♥ lol.

Toddler Valentine Snack Mix! ♥

I'm sure I'm not the only one seeing all these yummy Valentine's mixes on pinterest. Coated in powdered sugar, drizzled in chocolate, mixed with yummy m&ms, lovely right?! Yesss! But, I couldn't find many kid friendly options out there, so I decided to put together a cute little mix suitable for toddlers! And, I won't lie, I plan on eating some too! :)

There's still some things in here that my toddlers don't normally get, but as this is meant to be a 'treat', I think it's okay!

Here's what we used:

-Cheerios (frosted! Mommy is getting crazy over here!)

-Yogurt covered raisins

-HappyBaby strawberry yogurt melts (you can find these with the baby food in various brands)

-Strawberry Frosted Shredded Wheat (various brands make these!)

the strawberry cereal has 11g of sugar, which is quite a bit more than my girls cereal normally has, but I went ahead and 'sprinkled' a few on as a treat for them! Other than that, I did about a cup of cheerios, 1/4 cup of both the yogurt covered raisins & yogurt melts. & Make sure to check the sugars/ingredients on the yogurt covered raisins, some of these were crazy, I'd recommend checking out a health food store!

You could also add some dried cranberries or strawberries

animal crackers, etc!


have fun mixing up your own! ♥

P.S. this mix also looks ADORABLE layered in a mason jar, I'll probably post some pics later ♥

Linking over at IHeartNaptime!

Ohhhh, Anthropologie.

I love Anthropologie, even on days when I know I am going to go in and buy absolutely nothing, I love to just look around and take in some ideas and inspiration! There are far too many gorgeous things in there! ♥

Carousel ♥

Oh, how I love them, oh so much! ♥

Seepy Baby ♥

nice relaxing day at home today ♥

So many Princesses.

Look at lil Lex trying to blend in with the princesses ;)

well, for Christmas Santa brought each of the girls one of the Disney Animator's Collection dolls--they were WAY too cute to pass up. So, they had their cute little collection of two. But their Grandma thought they needed some more--so they were SO excited when the good ole UPS guy dropped two more off today! Thanks Grandma--they LOVE them! ♥

Ava's Very First Day of Ballet!

So, as the new year was coming up we decided we would be enrolling Ava into ballet class this year! I really think we made the right decision because it almost brought a tear to my eye to see the way her entire face lit up as we walked in! As we got there the jazz class was finishing up and dancing around...and I could just tell she was so happy to be there!

I knew I was going to do everything I could to NOT distract her for her first class, so, I left my camera in the car. Shocker huh?! Lol. But because I was going to leave it in the car, I took some photos of her before we left as she was 'getting ready' (prancing around) for class!






We are so proud of how well she did! ♥ & She can't wait to go back next week!

"Fly Fairy Flyy!" ♥

I can't even count the amount of times I hear Ava shouting that from her dollyhouse, lol! ♥

Ohdeedoh Feature! ♥

I was really excited to hear Alexa's "You Are My Sunshine Party" was going to be featured over at ohdeedoh today! Ohdeedoh is a great source for children design and one of my favorite inspiration sites--so it means a lot to me to see our party on there! Thank you for the feature Ohdeedoh! ♥

Hello 2012!

Happy New Year everyone!! ♥ 2011 was a great year for my family, lots of accomplishments and happy memories! I must admit, I'm a little sad that it flew SO quickly! But I always welcome a fresh start, so, here we go 2012! I have a feeling that this year will be even better than the last! :)